Exploring Ancient Egypt Through Ian Shaw's Oxford History

Kevin Huang: great book, little too expensive for an used one. thank god the international shipping is free on this item.

United States on Oct 11, 2023

Petri J.: The stories are interesting, but if you were expecting pictures, this is not the book to provide them. The only "illustrations" are couple of maps and charts, and that's it. The rest is text.
The only picture in this book is the front cover.

United States on Oct 03, 2023

Shaun: This book has been helpful on my Egyptology degree

United Kingdom on Sep 05, 2023

Joaquín B.: Lectura árida. Parece clásico y no incorpora las últimas investigaciones.

Spain on Jun 09, 2023

Saket Kumar: In short- If you are looking for a narrative book, which tells the history like a story, you will be utterly disappointed. The book is merely about the archaeological excavations and findings about kings about which you are supposed to know already.

Long review -There is a difference between history
and mere archaeological excavations.
The book keeps talking about tombs and pyramids of kings and the people. They refer to the things found in tombs, how the tomb has been built, and what are the dimensions of the tomb etc.
It lacks the narrative format in which history should be ideally written. The book is written like the things have already been taken place, and we are in the future. It takes the name of pharaohs so casually as if the reader already knows who is the king.
As soon as a chapter starts, lets say, the old kingdom, it starts talking about the tomb of Djoser. I first want to know who is Djoser, what was he like, what happened in his reign and the things which can be classified as 'events'.
Agreed the tomb of Djoser is something important in Egyptian history, as are the various tombs and excavations found in parts of Egypt, but they serve as...

India on Jun 25, 2019

doc peterson: The _Oxford History of Ancient Egypt_ is really a compilation of essays on the various periods of Ancient Egyptian history from the paleolithic through the Roman conquest. Initially I was off-put by this, but I quickly recognized the strength of this sort of approach. simply put, each section is written by an expert on that particular period of time, giving readers access to the considerable expertise and fluency with the subject matter that simply outweighs what any single scholar could provide on the area.

I found the chapters on the Naqada Period (ca. 4000 - 3200 BCE) by Beatrix Midant-Reynes, the First Intermediate Period by Stephen Seidlmeyer and the Second Intermediate Period by Jamie Bourrian to be particularly well-done. The depth, detail and clarity with which these scholars write is exceptional.

The _Oxford History of Ancient Egypt_ is the best single volume on the region's history I have read. I give it my highest recommendations for anyone interested in the area and time period - the scholarly detail and accessibility of language is unparalleled.

United States on Nov 19, 2015

PerspectiveX: Although there is much to learn from this book, the use of several authors makes it (inevitably) a very inconsistent read. While some write lucidly and evocatively about this fascinating subject, others are too prone to descending into arcane, archaeological jibberish. Referring to coded layers does little to enlighten the general reader, and the first chapter on Prehistory is rendered virtually unintelligble by the author's inability to stand back from the detail and summarise the conclusions that can be drawn for the period as a whole. What was needed here was a single voice with a rational, coherent but engrossing style who could really inspire the readership as well as convey a sound knowledge of the subject. Ian Shaw's chapter was so good, perhaps he should have written all of it.

United Kingdom on Aug 18, 2014

Al Sundel: Egyptian history is hidden behind 7 veils, and you can easily be fooled by this book. It moves along very quietly. Nothing grabs you about it. Each essay shows the same amount of caution where angels fear to tread. But when you go to the Index and seek an item, it is usually there. One exception is the site of the Exodus start, where the Israelites in bondage worked to build the palaces of Ramses II and his huge family. The site is known as Avaris II, and we now know that it sits atop Avaris I, which was once a huge fortified city used as the capital of the Hyksos, who conquered and ruled Egypt, piece by piece, for 150 years. No small amount of time: 7.5 gene-pool generations. We here have a map of the Hyksos capital, a diagram of its northern influences, another of a gravesite with human bones, a chart of its stratigraphy and chronology, supplied by Janine Bourriau. This broke the quiet pattern and grabbed me.

It would have been nice to know more about Upper Egyptian genius at becoming a world leader in monumental stone sculpture earlier than any other people. Where did all that wealth really come from? How did the economy break down in terms of Deltaland trade and African...

United States on Feb 03, 2013

M. Pearson: This is an excellent resume of the whole of Ancient Egyptian history. Despite some of the negative reviews it is not boring, merely very thorough.
The style is variable because Ian Shaw has brought together different 'experts' to tell the history and some writers have a easier narrative style than others. It is more than a reference book because it does read as a story, but only just!
Its value lies in the comprehensive way it allows you to fit all the disparate bits of Egyptian history picked up from, school, casual reading the TV etc into a framework. Yes its is dry in places, but that's only because it is thorough.

Buy this book if you want to get Egyptian history straightened out in your mind. Use it as a reference work to look up which part of the 5000 odd years of interlocking stories is being mentioned elsewhere.
Don't buy this if you want a romance of ancient history.

Kindle readers (like myself) will be annoyed at the poor resolution of the maps, even when read on PC. The maps are almost essential at some points and unless you have access to historical atlas you will/may struggle at times.
It really is a shame that Amazon does not operate some...

United Kingdom on Nov 11, 2012

Kaigama: This book is an impressive albeit esoteric collection of essays. Its gives real insight in the creation and development of a great African civilization. I like especially the beginning chapters explaining the Saharan Neolithic and also the Badarian and Naqada cultures. It gives clear evidence that Ancient Egypt was indigenous to the African continent , not a transplant from Eurasia. Although the writers use super technical jargon never once asserting the simple fact that AE was indigenous to Africa, they instead use specific geographic regions of the Nile Valley and adjacent areas, such as the Eastern desert or western desert to point out the origins of these indigenous groups. However in chapter 2 the authors don't give any credence to the idea that Agriculture may have also been an indigenous development, as oppossed to being borrowed from the Levant. The authors actually point out the unusual fact that Agriculture was present in the East and west deserts of Egypt 500 years before it shows up in the Nile Valley during the Pre-Badarian era, but fails to consider the possibility that this maybe explained by Agriculture being adopted from a southerly African source. However they do...

United States on Nov 22, 2010