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Archaic Egypt
Between 1936 and 1956 archaeological discoveries at Sakkara, the necropolis of ancient Memphis, have produced evidence which has caused historians to revise many of their previous conceptions of Egyptian civilization of the first two dynasties 3200-2780 B.C. The origins of the Egypt of the Pharaohs still remain obscure, but the new material uncovered by the pick of the excavator shows that the people of the Nile Valley at that remote period enjoyed a far higher degree of culture than has hitherto been recognized. Architecture and the arts had reached a degree of excellence which in some ways was hardly surpassed when the full flower of Pharaonic civilization was in bloom.
The aim of this book is to put before the reader a general survey of what we now [as of 1961] know, through these recent [sic] discoveries, of the cultural achievements of the great people who lived on the banks of the Nile nearly five thousand years ago. While in no sense a text-book this absorbing study will make an equal appeal to the student and to the layman.
—from the back cover
Contains illustrations by the author and a 48 page set of photographs.
Includes an Appendix, a Bibliography, and an Index
Pelican Books A462
The aim of this book is to put before the reader a general survey of what we now [as of 1961] know, through these recent [sic] discoveries, of the cultural achievements of the great people who lived on the banks of the Nile nearly five thousand years ago. While in no sense a text-book this absorbing study will make an equal appeal to the student and to the layman.
—from the back cover
Contains illustrations by the author and a 48 page set of photographs.
Includes an Appendix, a Bibliography, and an Index
Pelican Books A462
269 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1961
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79 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 17, 2007
Ok, early dynastic Egypt is not my favorite period, but it is truly fascinating, especially to see the roots of so many of the cultural institutions that survived nearly unchanged for the next 6,000 years or so.
January 19, 2021
This 1961 work applies a veritable microscope to the I and II Dynasties of ancient Egypt, covering the period from approximately 3400 to 2850 B.C. Considering that the great pyramids were built during the IV Dynasty, the religious reforms of Akhenaten occurred during the XVIIIth Dynasty, and the conquest by Alexander around 330 B.C. brought to an end the rule of the XXXth Dynasty, this is going way back and thoroughly justifies the use of the term 'archaic' in the title.
Actually, as pointed out in the foreword by M.E.L. Mallowan, the husband of Agatha Christie, little was known about this time until the late nineteenth and twentieth century. Emery actually worked for several decades as an archaeologist, and his book in a testament to the painstaking exactitude of his researches and findings. Somewhat unfortunately, there is far too much focus on the individual trees, and one misses the sense of the forest as a whole. In this, his work is quite similar to that of Adolf Erman's Life in Ancient Egypt, which I characterized more as an encyclopedia than a historical analysis, a judgment which would also hold for this work.
For instance, forty-five separate designs of cups, bowls, dishes and pots are described, both with respect to their general shape and as to their particular use, thirty-six different designs on wood, bone and ivory are replicated in one of the well over a hundred figures in the book, each of which is meticulously drawn. There are forty-seven pot marks which were drawn on pots before they were fired, the meanings of which are still unclear. Still, they are all faithfully reproduced in a figure. Finally, bricks of the period varied in size from 23 x 12 x 7 cm. to 26 x 13 x 9 cm. These examples could be added to again and again by the virtually unending flow of minutiae with which this book is filled.
Overall, there is an incredible amount of detail on tombs: ancient Egyptians were obsessed with the afterlife and although mummification had not come to encompass the art of embalming by this period, the elaborate designs of tombs, complete with side-rooms for retainers who were supposedly sacrificed to provide attendants for the higher ranked dead. The designs and construction of each tomb is faithfully rendered with precise drawings and elaborate detail.
Finally, Emery postulates that the unification of Lower (Northern) and Upper (Southern) Egypt was carried out by a foreign race, who imposed their rule over the native inhabitants, and whose customs and beliefs were eventually copied by the lower orders as the centuries passed. Neither Breasted nor Erman as far as I can recall posited such a theory, but Emery's book is of a later date and possibly understanding had progressed by his time.
A truly admirable work of meticulous scholarship, and a fitting representation of the writer's life work.
Actually, as pointed out in the foreword by M.E.L. Mallowan, the husband of Agatha Christie, little was known about this time until the late nineteenth and twentieth century. Emery actually worked for several decades as an archaeologist, and his book in a testament to the painstaking exactitude of his researches and findings. Somewhat unfortunately, there is far too much focus on the individual trees, and one misses the sense of the forest as a whole. In this, his work is quite similar to that of Adolf Erman's Life in Ancient Egypt, which I characterized more as an encyclopedia than a historical analysis, a judgment which would also hold for this work.
For instance, forty-five separate designs of cups, bowls, dishes and pots are described, both with respect to their general shape and as to their particular use, thirty-six different designs on wood, bone and ivory are replicated in one of the well over a hundred figures in the book, each of which is meticulously drawn. There are forty-seven pot marks which were drawn on pots before they were fired, the meanings of which are still unclear. Still, they are all faithfully reproduced in a figure. Finally, bricks of the period varied in size from 23 x 12 x 7 cm. to 26 x 13 x 9 cm. These examples could be added to again and again by the virtually unending flow of minutiae with which this book is filled.
Overall, there is an incredible amount of detail on tombs: ancient Egyptians were obsessed with the afterlife and although mummification had not come to encompass the art of embalming by this period, the elaborate designs of tombs, complete with side-rooms for retainers who were supposedly sacrificed to provide attendants for the higher ranked dead. The designs and construction of each tomb is faithfully rendered with precise drawings and elaborate detail.
Finally, Emery postulates that the unification of Lower (Northern) and Upper (Southern) Egypt was carried out by a foreign race, who imposed their rule over the native inhabitants, and whose customs and beliefs were eventually copied by the lower orders as the centuries passed. Neither Breasted nor Erman as far as I can recall posited such a theory, but Emery's book is of a later date and possibly understanding had progressed by his time.
A truly admirable work of meticulous scholarship, and a fitting representation of the writer's life work.
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July 17, 2021In het Nederlands: het oudste Egypte, aula 137
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews