Ancient Egyptian Forum

murphyz · Scribe Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 76 Location: London, UK

I posted in this section as my interest lies primarily with the pyramids but is open to all other topics.

With pay day looming on the horizon I was going to treat myself by going to the major Waterstones bookshop in London Picadilly and spending £100-£200 on books.

Does anyone have any recommendations of good quality educational books about Ancient Egypt?
I was thinking of getting something by Petrie as well so any suggestions in this area would be nice.

Please note, I do not simply want a list of books about Egypt - I can go onto Amazon and get that myself. I simply want recommendations of decent books that you have read yourself.

Thanks

Mxx
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Dark_Meryetamun_28 · Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2003 7:54 pm Post subject:

I liked the book Sun Queen: Nefertiti by Emma L. Patterson, and Mara Daughter of the Nile by Eloise McGraw. Most of the books I read are about Queens, Nefertiti in particular, and they're novels. I have a bunch of books I haven't read yet, all cuz I'm doing a report on Nefertiti. Here are some books that are not novels: Nefertiti and Cleopatra: Queen-Monarchs of Ancient Egypt by Julia Samson, and Nefertiti and archaeological Biography by Philipp Vandenberg, (yes I spelled Philipp right) but all the rest of my books from the library are novels, and I also liked The Pharaoh's Daughter by Julius Lester, but it's a kids book. (A children's novel.) But, those are all the books that are a good size to read. (most aren't kids books.)
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Akhenaten · Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2003 8:32 pm Post subject:

One of my favorite non-fiction books is called, "AKhenaten: Egypt's false Prophet," By Nicholas Reeves. It has some very good information in it about Akhenaten, Amunhotep III, Tutankhamen, and KV 55. It's very interesting. I also like "Nefertiti: Egypt's Sun Queen" by Joyce Tyldesley. it is very good, also. "The Murder of Tutankhamen: a True Story" By Dr. Bob Brier is very good. "The Encyclopedia of mummies," also by Dr. Brier, is a great resource if you need anything at all about mummies, but it's not just Egyptian. My other FAVORITE book is "The Lost Tomb" by Kent R. Weeks. It is wonderfully written and has anything you could every possibly want to know about KV 5 and Ramses II, along with a chapter with some very interesting information about Amunhotep III and Akhenaten. Another good one is "Chronicle of the Pharaohs" Sorry, I don't know who it's by, I don't own it, I checked it out at the library and have since returned it. "The complete Tutankhamen" by Nicholas Reeves is good, too, if you need any information on Tutankhamen.
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murphyz · Scribe Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 76 Location: London, UK

Thanks for those I shall have a look at some that were mentioned.

I'm not a fan of Joyce Tyldesley after reading 'Hatshepsut: The Female Pharaoh' as it seemed to be an extended thesis that someone would do for a university course (and granted that she is a lecturer this probably helped her) and I feel it could have been so much better.

One of my favourite Egyptian topics are the pyramids and so found Mark Lehners 'The Complete Pyramid' a wonderful comprehensive source of information.

I already have a copy of 'The Complete Tutankhamun' by Nicholas Reeves.

A couple of other books in my collection that I really like are 'Riddles of the Sphinx' by Paul Jordan, and 'Gods of Ancient Egypt' by Barbara Watterson.

The ones I was considering buying are as follows (links to Amazon.co.uk are included):

Pyramids and Temples of Gizeh ~ Sir W M Flinders Petrie
Ancient Egypt ~ David P. Silverman
Akhenaten: King of Egypt ~ Cyril Aldred
The Egyptian Book of the Dead ~ Raymond Oliver Faulkner
Akhenaten - Egypt's False Prophet ~ Nicholas Reeves (as mentioned above), and
The Complete Valley of the Kings: Tombs and Treasures of Eygpt's Greatest Pharaohs ~ Nicholas Reeves

Mxx
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Dark_Meryetamun_28 · Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2003 9:42 pm Post subject:

Weel, like I said, I only specialize in fiction books. I'm trying to get some nonfiction, but I'm going to have to wait. Oh, well.
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murphyz · Scribe Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 76 Location: London, UK

I really prefer the non-fiction as they help more with the knowledge of AE and this then helps me build my website.
However, as you probably know, these works of non-fiction can start to get rather pricey. Sad

Mxx
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Dark_Meryetamun_28 · Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2003 9:38 pm Post subject:

Akhenaten · Posted: Sat Jan 25, 2003 3:55 am Post subject:

I don't know if either of you have them where you live, but "Borders books and Cafe" is a really great bookstore. They're not that expencive and they have stuff on sale all the time. That's where I get must of my Egyptian books, they have a pretty large collection of pretty much everything. Barnes and Nobles bookstore is good, too, but they don't have as much, and they're a little more.
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murphyz · Scribe Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 76 Location: London, UK

Thanks for the tip. I'll nip into Oxford street on the way and see what Borders have. Although I don't mind paying a little bit more as I have money off vouchers from Waterstones when I spend over £100.

Last time I went to the British Museum they had some nice books as well, so may try them too.

Mxx
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Dark_Meryetamun_28 · Posted: Sat Jan 25, 2003 7:04 pm Post subject:

I don't go to Barnes and Noble anymore. They support terrorists. There was this guy who wrote a book about blowing up a bathroom in the Pentagon to terminate contact with US planes during the Vietnom war in the room above, and how he'd do it again. They let that twisted freak do a book signing right after September 11th!!!! Mad

I don't know about you, but my dad works in NYC sometimes when they need him, and he sometimes used to work in that building. That could have been him in there!!!!!! Mad

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Akhenaten · Posted: Sat Jan 25, 2003 8:24 pm Post subject:

Hmm... That's a strange thing. I wish I could visit the British Museum. That would be so cool! So you have actually seen the bust of Nefertiti? That would be amazing!

The St. Louis Art Museum has a few books in their gift shop, but not very many, and they're really expensive. But the museum is free except for their special exhibits, which are free on Tuesdays, but they haven't had an Egyptian one. The Egyptian section is small, but has someamazing things! The coffin of Henut-Wedjebu, a singer in the temple of Amun during the reign of Amunhotep III, and her husband was the overseer of the mansion of the Aten. Her coffin is black with gold foil. There's also two more mummies, one from the 22nd Dynasty? And one from Greaco-Roman times. There's also a set of Canopic Jars for a Vizier, along with all of his shabtis and scarabs, and the marriage scarab of Amunhotep III. Last year my family and I ent through the whole museum and in the roman section (Of all places) we found some artifacts from the time of Hatshepsut, and one appears to be a queen!

I thought there was another bookstore around here, but either I was mistaken or I can't remember it. I also like looking on E-Bay for books, sometimes you can find them really cheap and in good condition. Half.com has some, too, but it might be for US residents only.
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-Akhenaten-

Dark_Meryetamun_28 · Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2003 9:19 pm Post subject:

Who said I'm not from US? Who said I've seen the bust of Nefertiti? I'm confused! And, don't forget booksamillion.com or, in Tennessee [I went to the Smokies (sp?) for vacation] they have an actual book store owned by books a million.
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Akhenaten · Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2003 11:22 pm Post subject:

The reason you don't understand it is because I wasn't reffering to you. Sorry
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-Akhenaten-

Dark_Meryetamun_28 · Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2003 11:34 pm Post subject:

Oh. Ok
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Osiris_God · Scribe Joined: 15 Mar 2005 Posts: 51 Location: Canada

I like a book called Ancient Egypt Reference Classics by David P Silverman