An essential resource for the study of ancient Egypt's pharaonic dynasties, covering the lives of some 1,500 rulers and royal individuals.

This groundbreaking new book illuminates the lives of the kings, queens, princes, and princesses of ancient Egypt, unraveling family relationships and exploring the parts they played in politics, cultural life, and religion. It ranges from the dawn of Egyptian history, when only isolated glimpses are available of the royal family, through the vast progeny of Rameses II, and ends with the fiendishly complicated—and blood-soaked—interconnections of the Ptolemies and Cleopatras.

The authors begin with a basic summary of the structure of the pharaonic state, including the nature of ancient Egyptian kingship itself and how its functions meshed with those of the bureaucracy. They introduce key members of the royal family and assess what is known about the implications of the major titles that define them.

The book then moves from the general to the particular, with a chronological survey of the royal family from c. 3100 BC and the First Dynasty up to Egypt's absorption into the Roman Empire. For each dynasty, or significant part of a dynasty, the authors provide an historical overview of the period, a summary listing of the kings involved, and a discussion of their families' relationships, including, most importantly, how we know what we think we know about them. Finally, the individuals who made up these families are placed in context via twenty-seven genealogical trees, and described in a comprehensive list of short biographies.

Handsomely illustrated with more than 300 photographs and line drawings, this book will serve equally well as a biographical history of ancient Egypt and a superb volume for home reference. 330 illustrations, 80 in color....

A richly illustrated and complete account of the development and significance of the tomb in ancient Egypt.

From the pyramids and royal burial ground in the Valley of the Kings to the tombs of queens such as Ramesses II's consort Nefertari and the far larger number of private tombs of nobles like Rekhmire and Ramose, The Tomb in Ancient Egypt is an unparalleled guide for Egyptophiles everywhere.

Besides the paintings, reliefs, and statues adorning their walls, many tombs show the breathtaking skill of ancient architects, and autobiographical texts found inside several tombs give rare insights into Egyptian life. We read of Harkhuf's African explorations, returning with the gift of a dancing dwarf to his boy-king, Pepy II, and we learn how General Amenemhab saved his king's life when the king was charged by an enraged elephant.

Written by two experts in the field and the authors of The Mummy in Ancient Egypt, this new book traces burial practices in Egypt over three millennia, from the dawn of Egyptian history to the Roman domination. It also illuminates the work of key scholars who excavated and catalogued their finds for posterity, and it includes a comprehensive list of the principal cemeteries, with glossary and maps for ease of reference. 350 illustrations, 40 in color....

This new study, drawing on the latest research, tells the story of the decline and fall of the pharaoh Akhenaten’s religious revolution in the fourteenth century BC. Beginning at the regime’s high-point in his Year 12, it traces the subsequent collapse that saw the deaths of many of the king’s loved ones, his attempts to guarantee the revolution through co-rulers, and the last frenzied assault on the god Amun.

The book then outlines the events of the subsequent five decades that saw the extinction of the royal line, an attempt to place a foreigner on Egypt’s throne, and the accession of three army officers in turn. Among its conclusions are that the mother of Tutankhamun was none other than Nefertiti, and that the queen was joint-pharaoh in turn with both her husband Akhenaten and her son. As such, she was herself instrumental in beginning the return to orthodoxy, undoing her erstwhile husband’s life-work before her own mysterious disappearance....