Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization, Second Edition 2nd Edition

For a deep and genuine command of ancient Egyptian history, this book must be read. As the reader becomes immersed in Kemp’s mastery of archaeological knowledge, historic Egypt in real terms and details is revealed . Kemp has his quirks; he’s an outdated Marxist who consistently underestimates religion as a fundamental touchstone of Egyptian society, the nation that Egyptologist John Wilson characterized early on as a “ sacred society”. But Kemp’s tireless work has produced a master text.

I always wondered why Egyptology sounded like a either a Biblical science or History of art. This book has drawn my attention to how it's a more widely-spread science that many from other disciplines can come to understand how things have begun.I am Egyptian and Kemp has managed to explain to me how this civilization hasn't really changed in essence over the longest history on Earth for a 'unified' nation of multi-culturalism and mutli-racial backgrounds. It explained a lot of what's happening since the revolution of 2011 (you have to look for the answers), and showed me how deep is the characteristic of this nation goes back for those who wishes to use or change it.

This book is a superb text on Ancient Egypt. It gives the student a well-rounded vision of study from the pre-dynastic era through the New Kingdom. It is well written and easy to read, thorough though not intimidating. A good beginning book for a student new to this part of history. Recommended!

The book itself was in good shape. However there was a folded crease on the back which if your picky you'd probably find annoying lol

It has a social point of view of Ancient Egypt. If you want a full detailed book about Sociology of Ancient, that's a good one!

Kemp analyzes aspects of ancient Egyptian society that general books about it tend to gloss over, such as its cityscapes, its economy, and its administration. He looks at these topics from a largely archaeological perspective and uses particular sites as examples of his themes, such as Hierakonpolis for the formation of the Early Dynastic state, Kahun for the state planning of the Middle Kingdom, and Amarna for, well, the Amarna Period. The original, 1989 edition of the book only discussed the Predynastic period and the three kingdoms (Old, Middle, and New). It thus fell into the all-too-common Egyptological habit of ignoring developments after 1000 BC. This edition includes a chapter that points out that deficiency in scholarship and discusses each of the intermediate periods, as well as the Late and Greco-Roman eras.Kemp brings an unusual viewpoint to Egyptology. It's often very insightful. An early chapter discusses how the Egyptians invented a traditional set of architectural motifs early in their history, then constantly reworked and combined them in new ways—making it look like they were maintaining age-old traditions even when they were making dramatic innovations. Egyptologists, trying to reconstruct ancient Egyptian culture based on what would fit with known Egyptian tradition, can end up unwittingly recombining ideas in the same way.My major complaint is that Kemp's treatment of religion seems rather superficial. He doesn't ignore it, by any means, but he downplays how much power it had to shape society and tends to see it in materialistic, even cynical terms. His attitude does serve to balance out the tendency among other Egyptologists to exaggerate the influence of religious ideology over practical considerations, but I think it goes too far in the opposite direction.Anyone wanting to understand the workings of ancient Egyptian society should read this book, and I'd give it four and a half stars if I could. I'll settle on four, because it's best used in combination with other sources. Kemp's perspective is a little too idiosyncratic for this book to stand on its own as your go-to source.

The prospective reader should bear in mind that this interesting and useful book is oriented toward archaeological evidence and data. Historical material is provided primarily to interpret the archaeological data, and while it does contain an enormous amount of information of historical interest, it is not intended to offer a narrative overview of Egyptian history.Its purpose is admirably served by Kemp's sweeping and up-to-date review of various findings. Considering materials dating from the Neolithic period to the invasion of Alexander the Great, he deftly explores what we know -- and what we do not know -- about the nature of life along the Nile during that vast expanse of time.Kemp's primary orientation is political and economic material and he strikes this reader as heavily influenced by Marx. This especially comes across in his handling of Egyptian religious material, which I found to be the weakest part of the book. Kemp is tone deaf to religious literature and treats it purely as ideology. But if the purpose of archaeology is to understand, we cannot understand a thing without understanding how it functioned in people's actual lives. Whatever one's personal beliefs, a purely ideological analysis of religious material remains very much at the surface.Another minor criticism is that Routledge is stingy with photographs in a book that positively cries out for lavish illustration. The overwhelming majority of illustrations are two- or three-tone line drawings.For a reader who is interested in what this book has to offer, I can unreservedly recommend it. It was engaging from start to finish and gave a wonderful sense of what we know about Ancient Egypt and how we know it.

I read this book immediately after reading John Romer's excellent "A History of Ancient Egypt from the First Farmers to the Great Pyramid" and found it a perfect complement to Romer's work. It certainly increased my knowledge of the period. Since Barry Kemp is a specialist on El Armana, the chapter on this particular period was brilliant, I will certainly buy the book he has written on his work there. For anybody interested the the lives of the ancient Egyptians, this is certainly a "must". Valerie David

hard to please all people , but it answers a lot of questions . a nice read and coffee table book.

I don't think I have learned more from any one book on Egypt than I have from this one. This is a cultural - intellectual and social history of Egypt and is not in any way a traditional Historical - Dynastic - Political - Chronological account. Kemp evaluates and interprets large bodies of archeological evidence in a most fascinating social-cultural way, telling a continous tale about the culture of Ancient Egypt - what the royal palaces were like, what the houses of the nobles were like, what kind of dress was probably seen within the walls of the royal palace, etc.. You will learn what the ancient Egyptian ate, what they considered important about their identity, how they viewed themselves in comparison with their neighbors and enemies. Many floor plans are presented of royal and domestic architecture as well as the plans of the cult temples and mortuary temples. Kemp also makes frequent reference to questions about our own times that the ancient Egyptian culture could provide answers for, or alternative solutions. The author is also very interested in the history of consciousness and how it evolves through the ancient Egyptian society up to and including our own time. The questions he poses about Egyptian and modern society failures are most intriguing and pertinent. Reading this study, the ancient Egyptian people who created the monuments we are often familiar with, really come alive as living human beings. You get inside the culture of Egypt and into the working mind of the royal noble and worker classes. This insight into the working of the Egyptian mind is also reinforced through analyses of the pictorial and architectural heritage presented. Many of the wall paintings and stone tablet designs have been re-drawn as line drawings to help better explain and demonstrate their meaning. Many line drawings and line renderings have been produced especially for this text. There are also many maps and many town plans and a fine discussion of ancient town planning and urban design. Egypt's economics and economic history are discussed in interesting detail as well. There is a long and detailed analysis of Egypt as a unified state and the concept and evolution of "statehood" as it applies to Egypt. There are also many fascinating details on ceremonial procedures and festivals and festival rituals through an analysis of the archeological, natural and artistic remains of this heritage which have survived. The book reads like an in-depth psychological/archeological study - a fascinating historical and mythological tale.In order to have a clear chronological/historical reference you will also do well to read the Oxford History of Egypt by Ian Shaw as a companion text as well.  The Oxford History of Ancient EgyptThe Oxford History of Ancient Egypt

arived on time good value for the money goog study book

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