num_pages: 352
description: The story of Egypt is the story of history itself—the endless rise &amp; fall, the life &amp; death &amp; life again of the eternal effort to endure, enjoy &amp; understand the mystery of the universe. Emerging from the mists of time, Egypt met the challenge of the mystery in a glorious evolution of religious, intellectual &amp; political institutions &amp; for two millennia flourished with all the vigor the heart can invest in a social &amp; cultural order. Then Egypt began to crumble into the desert &amp; the waters of the Nile, &amp; her achievements in civilization became her lingering epitaph. John A. Wilson has written a rich interpretive biography of one of the greatest cultural periods. He answers—as best a modern Egyptologist can—the questions asked concerning the dissolution of Egypt's glory. Here is scholarship at its finest, concerned with the humanity that has preceded us, &amp; finding in past grandeur &amp; failure meaning for today.IntroductionThe black land: geographic features of EgyptOut of the mud: the long prehistoric struggleThe search for security &amp; order: Dynasties 1-3 (about 3100-2700)The king &amp; God: Dynasties 4-6 (about 2700-2200)The first illness: Dynasties 7-11 (about 2200-2050)The king as the good shepherd: Dynasties 11-12 (about 2050-1800)The great humiliation: Dynasties 13-17 (about 1800-1550)Far frontiers: earlier Dynasty 18 (about 1550-1375)Irrepressible conflict: later Dynasty 18 (about 1375-1325)Where is the glory?: Dynasties 18-20 (about 1325-1100)The broken reed: Late Empire &amp; Post-Empire (1350 &amp; after)ChronologyA Note on TranslationsAbbreviationsList of IllustrationsIndex
language: English
title: The Culture of Ancient Egypt
titlecomplete: The Culture of Ancient Egypt
genres: Anthropology, Egyptology, History, Egypt, Africa, Nonfiction
ratings_count: 57
publisher: University of Chicago Press