Read Online The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt Ian Shaw Books

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Download As PDF : The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt Ian Shaw Books

The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt uniquely covers 700,000 years of ancient Egypt, from c. 700,000 BC to AD 311. Following the story from the Egyptians' prehistoric origins to their conquest by the Persians, Greeks, and Romans, this book resurrects a fascinating society replete with remarkable historical information. It investigates such subjects as the changing nature of life and death in the Nile valley to some of the earliest masterpieces of art, architecture, and literature in the ancient world. The authors--an international team of experts working at the cutting edge of their particular fields--outline the principal sequence of political events, including detailed examinations of the three so-called 'intermediate periods' which were previously regarded as 'dark ages' and are only now beginning to be better understood. They also examine cultural and social patterns, including stylistic developments in art and literature. Addressing the issues surrounding this distinctive culture, vividly relating the rise and fall of ruling dynasties, exploring colorful personalities, and uncovering surprising facts, The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt is certain to enrich our understanding of this endlessly intriguing civilization.
"Brimming with...intriguing facts...also provides a first-rate overview of le progrès Egyptien--from the period when Homo erectus first stalked the land right up to Octavian's triumphant entry into Egypt in 30 BC."--The Times (London) (on the previous edition)

Read Online The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt Ian Shaw Books

"Over all I would say this is a foundation for understanding the time period and I absolutely loved it.
It does however suffer from a narrow focus. If you like to see the ongoing development of politics and religion as expressed through graves and monuments you will be in heaven. If you view history as more of a narrative about people's lives and interactions beyond the elite classes you will be disappointed. I would suggest that this is a MUST read but not an ONLY read to understand the time period."

Product details Paperback 552 pages Publisher Oxford University Press; New Ed edition (February 19, 2004) Language English ISBN-10 0192804588

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The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt Ian Shaw Books Reviews :

The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt Ian Shaw Books Reviews

• The _Oxford History of Ancient Egypt_ is really a compilation of essays on the various periods of Ancient Egyptian history from the paleolithic through the Roman conquest. Initially I was off-put by this, but I quickly recognized the strength of this sort of approach. simply put, each section is written by an expert on that particular period of time, giving readers access to the considerable expertise and fluency with the subject matter that simply outweighs what any single scholar could provide on the area.
  
  I found the chapters on the Naqada Period (ca. 4000 - 3200 BCE) by Beatrix Midant-Reynes, the First Intermediate Period by Stephen Seidlmeyer and the Second Intermediate Period by Jamie Bourrian to be particularly well-done. The depth, detail and clarity with which these scholars write is exceptional.
  
  The _Oxford History of Ancient Egypt_ is the best single volume on the region's history I have read. I give it my highest recommendations for anyone interested in the area and time period - the scholarly detail and accessibility of language is unparalleled.
• Over all I would say this is a foundation for understanding the time period and I absolutely loved it.
  It does however suffer from a narrow focus. If you like to see the ongoing development of politics and religion as expressed through graves and monuments you will be in heaven. If you view history as more of a narrative about people's lives and interactions beyond the elite classes you will be disappointed. I would suggest that this is a MUST read but not an ONLY read to understand the time period.
• The information is fine, but this book lacks flow and consistency of topics covered. It reads more like a collection of essays (one for each time period). Editors could have done more to promote a similar focus among the time periods (like focusing on economic or social or religious conditions or archaeological findings from each period). Instead, each chapter reads like it's own essay with it's own focus. This leads to an aggravated style where some chapters read well and cover interesting material, while others are hard to get through. Moreover, the chapters have little connection and flow between them. Where there is overlap, it seems rather unintentional and comes off as one chapter stepping on the toes of the prior chapter.
• Wonderful book, well written and organized. It brings history and archaeology together in a great format and the time periods are written by individuals who are well knowledged on the subject. This is the first book on the subject that I find totally engrossing!
• Bought this for my 6th graders Egyptology assignment in History. I was very impressed with how thorough this book was and also how many pharaohs they had information on. My 6th grader had a pharaoh that was hard to find information on... this had a lot of info and explained the history and life of the pharaoh very well.
• I was disappointed in how much actual history was left out. Page after page about pot shards and burial customs but damn little about who did what in some sections. The chapter on Roman Egypt was particularly poor. Once Cleopatra & Octavian were covered, the next 300+ years were all but ignored. The spread of the religion of Isis & Serapis throughout the empire & the mass murder of pagan worshippers & the final destruction of the great temple of Serapis in Alexandria by Christian mobs which is the true end for ancient Egyptian history should have been covered. Perhaps even the Byzantine ear leading up to the Arab conquest could have gotten at least a glance. Not a bad book, but certainly not the best one volume history of ancient Egypt either.
• This book is a collection of essays by various authors, and the quality of them varies tremendously from chapter to chapter. While it covers all of Egyptian history from prehistoric times to the Roman era, this book is not a particularly good introduction. Here's a typical sentence from the first chapter "The Nubian Middle Paleolithic is characterized by the Nubian Levallois technique and by bifacial foliates and pendunculates." If you know what the Levallois technique and pendunculates are, great. If, like me, you have no idea what this means, you have a problem because there is a maddening lack of definition throughout. For me, the book's major drawback is that it fails to balance the larger picutre of historical development with this kind of astonishingly particular language. The main problem is that the editor has not sought any consistency among the various contributions. For example, the chapter on the Ptolemeic period spends an inordinate amount of time examinging the Egyptian military, a topic only fleetingly touched on in earlier chapters and ignored completely in the following chapter on the Roman period. The final Roman essay almost completely ignores the political structure of Egypt, even though that topic is central to almost all earlier contributors. Finally, anyone interested in Egyptian religion will find little information in this book. Some chapters touch on the topic, often pointing out that religious ideas evolved significantly over long periods of time. Other chapters ignore it altogether or merely present religious ideas as if the reader fully understood them. There is, however, an excellent array of maps and high quality pictures of art and architecture.
• Well written scholarly approach to the subject. To get a full picture you need to read several books on the topic and there have been some recent developments that might change some of the author's previously written conclusions. I liked it.