Table of Contents

10 History
12 Egypt, Gift of the Nile
16 Egypt before the Pharaohs
20 The ‘Zero’ Dynasty
22 King Narmer, The First Pharaoh?
24 The Thinite Period (The Early Dynastic Period)
28 The Old Kingdom
32 Pharaoh Djoser
34 Khufu- Builder of The Great Pyramid
36 The Time of Pepy I
38 First Intermediate Period
42 Herakleopolis
44 Nubia and Egypt
46 Fortresses in the South
48 The Middle Kingdom
52 Pharaoh Mentuhotep 2
54 Senusret1- Man of Character
56 Senusret III
60 Amenemhat III
62 The Hyksos
64 Second Intermediate Period
68 The New Kingdom
70 Of Workmen and Tomb Robbers
72 Thutmose 1
74 Thutmose 3
76 Hatshepsut, the Pharaoh Queen
78 Amenhotep III
80 Akhenaten’s Religious Reforms
84 Nefertiti- power and beauty
86 Tutankhamun, the boy King
88 Horemheb
90 Sety I
94 Rameses the Great
96 The battle of Qadesh
98 Sea Peoples
100 The Priest Kings
102 Libyans on the Throne
104 Taharqo, Nubian Pharaoh
106 The Persians in Egypt
108 Psamtek 1
110 Alexander as Pharaoh
112 Cleopatra- the Last Queen
114 Religion
116 The Gods of Egypt
122 The Sun Cult
126 Amun, King of the Gods
130 Osiris- God of the Afterlife
134 The Goddess Isis
138 Seth and Nephthys
142 Horus, God of the Sky
144 Hathor, Goddess of Love
148 Sekhmet: Goddess of Destruction
150 Neith, Goddess of Sais
152 Bastet- the Cat Goddess
154 Min, God of Fertility
156 The Lesser Deities
160 Foreign Gods on the Nile
164 The Creation Myth of Hermopolis
168 The sacred Apis Bull
170 The Animal Necropolises
174 Horus, the King's Protector
178 The Sed Festival
182 The Opet Festival
186 Priests, Servants of the Gods
190 God's Wife of Amun
192 Life After Death
196 The Ka, the Ba and the Akh
198 Embalming the body
202 Canopic Jars
204 Food for the Afterlife
208 The Funeral Cortege
212 The Opening of the Mouth Ceremony
216 The Weighing of the Heart
220 Art
222 Art in Ancient Egypt
224 Painters and Paintings
226 Relief-carving Techniques
232 Stelae, Books of Stone
238 Royal Statues
242 Coffins and Sarcophagi
248 The Magic of Jewels
250 Ceramics
256 Funerary Masks
260 Furniture for the Afterlife
264 Rahotep and Nofret
266 Building the Pyramids
272 The Sphinx
278 The Triad Statues of Menkaure
280 The Statue of Ka-aper
282 Seneb and his Family
284 The Temples of Deir el Bahri
290 Thebes, ‘City of 100 Gates’
296 The Valley of the Kings
298 The Settlement of Deir el-Medina
304 The Tomb of Nakht
308 The Colossi of Memnon
312 The Temple at Luxor
318 The Art of Akhenaten
322 Tell el-Amarna
324 The Mask of Tutankhamun
326 The Tombs of Horemheb
332 The Monuments of Rameses 2
338 The Temples of Abu Simbel
342 Nefertari’s Tomb
346 The Temple of Khons in Karnak
350 Alexandria, the Royal Dream
356 The Fayum Portraits
362 Everyday Life
364 Childhood in Ancient Egypt
368 Children’s Education
372 Marriage
376 Ancient Egyptian Houses
380 Town and City Life
384 Egyptian Society
388 Divine and Worldly Law
392 The Role of Women
396 Clothes and Fashion
400 Cosmetics and Perfumes
404 Hygiene and Body Care
408 goldsmiths and Jewellers
410 Civil Servants
414 Workers and Patrons
416 Fruits of the Soil
420 Keeping and Breeding Animals
424 The Slaughter of Animals
428 Vines and Wine
432 The Brewing of Beer
436 The Hunt
440 Music in Egyptian Life
442 Life in the Oases
446 The War Chariot
452 The Nilometer
456 Egyptian Astronomy
460 Mathematics and Measurement
464 Ancient Egyptian Numbers
466 Applied Physics
470 The Egyptian Calendar
474 Measuring Time
476 Medicine
480 Textile Production
484 Boats in Ancient Egypt
488 Weapons
492 Metalworking
496 Mining and Quarrying
502 The Rosetta Stone
504 Reading Hieroglyphs
506 Hieroglyphs from Life
510 The Egyptian Alphabet
514 Hieratic Writing
518 Coptic, the Script of the Christians
522 Writing Materials
526 Making Papyrus
530 Temple Inscriptions
534 Coffin Texts
538 Administrative Papyri
540 Index

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Highly illustrated encyclopedia revealing the daily life of the Ancient Egyptians

About the Author

Helen Strudwick is an Egyptologist who works for Cambridge University and takes part in British Museum excavations in Egypt.