I’ve been fascinated by ancient Egypt since I was ten. I started my first project in Luxor, Egypt, when I was 21, and for the last 35+ years, these projects have uncovered the stories of Theban tomb owners and the times in which they lived. For this reason, I’ve chosen some of the most accessible books on ancient Egyptian tombs and their decoration. I hope that these books will excite you about the humanity of those who lived thousands of years ago in ancient Egypt.
I wrote
The Tomb Chapel of Menna (Tt 69): The Art, Culture, and Science of Painting in an Egyptian Tomb
If you want to know more about the ancient Egyptians, look no further than their tombs. The ancient Egyptians built their stone sepulchers for eternity. Colored reliefs and paintings celebrated the king’s eternal cult, while elite, non-royal people recorded events of their everyday life and life in the hereafter. In this richly illustrated book, Dodson and Ikram offer a comprehensive view of ancient Egyptian mastabas, pyramids, and rock-cut tombs from Prehistory to the Greco-Roman Period and the meaning of their decoration. This book sits prominently on my bookshelf.
For Egyptophiles everywhere, here is the most authoritative and comprehensive guide ever published on the full range of tombs, their decoration and burial customs.
Books that examine the multiple meanings of ancient Egyptian tomb decoration in a number of tombs are depressingly rare. Hodel-Hoenes takes us on a tour of some of the most significant private tombs in the ancient necropolis of Thebes and discusses the content and symbolism of their colored reliefs and paintings in this profusely illustrated book. These tombs belong to high officials that served the king and many are not open to the public, which makes this book invaluable.
This stunning volume is a rarity among Ancient Egyptian art books in being devoted not to remains of royalty but to the tombs of private people-it is the first book in English on this subject.Sigrid Hodel-Hoenes leads us on an expedition to the cemetery used by the officials of New Kingdom Egypt on the eastern flanks of the Western mountain across from Thebes, between the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens. She examines the contents of eleven tombs belonging to civil servants, the private people of this ancient city. (All of these tombs are currently accessible…
We’ve all experienced the overwhelming level of political and social divisiveness in our country. This invisible “virus” of negativity is, in part, the result of the name-calling and heated rhetoric that has become commonplace among commentators and elected leaders alike.
My book provides a clear perspective on the historical and…
This overlooked coffee table book is a tour-de-force survey of the decorated mastabas, pyramids, and tombs of the Old and Middle Kingdoms. Written by international experts and edited by the world-famous Zahi Hawass, Treasures of the Pyramids offers something for everyone. I assign many chapters in my undergraduate classes because they are concise, well-written in English by French and German experts, and profusely illustrated in color.
Another outstanding book in the Treasures series, this time edited by Kent Weeks. Written by a team of world-acknowledged experts, Treasures of the Valley of the Kings covers the greatest royal tombs, mortuary temples, and private tombs from the New Kingdom in brilliant color accompanied by informative text. Originally published in hardback in 2001 and reprinted in flexibound in 2020, the same text can be found in one of the best guidebooks of the Theban necropolis, The Treasures of Luxor and the Valley of theKings, also published by White Star. I always pack this guidebook when I’m leading tours.
Take a spectacular armchair voyage to one of earth's most magnificent and ancient sites: Egypt's Valley of the Kings. This exquisitely produced guide is lavishly illustrated with more than 800 pictures (including archeological reconstruction drawings); 6 gatefolds; and the finest paper. Conducted by a team of world-acknowledged experts who provide the most up-to-date information, this virtual guidebook to Egypt's greatest treasures is the perfect mix of artistic brilliance and scholarly research. The Valley of the Kings and the tombs of the nobles are, with the pyramids of Giza, among the world's best-known sites. Yet a significant portion of this remarkable…
Marianne Bohr and her husband, about to turn sixty, are restless for adventure. They decide on an extended, desolate trek across the French island of Corsica — the GR20, Europe’s toughest long-distance footpath — to challenge what it means to grow old. Part travelogue, part buddy story, part memoir, The…
This massive 540-page book offers the reader everything to know about ancient Egypt. A group of international experts wrote Egypt: The World of the Pharaohs, which covers funerary art, tomb architecture, sculpture, and painting in an easy-to-read, lavishly illustrated book. Additional chapters explore ancient Egyptian history, culture, and religion. Appendixes include lists of gods, sites, museum collections, and a chronology with names of rulers. Numerous printings in hardback and softcover cover the same territory at an incredibly low cost—an indispensable volume and a required book in my classes.
This beautifully illustrated hardback edition explores all the magic and mysteries of ancient Egypt that continue to fascinate us, in over 500 pages of full-colour photographs and comprehensive text. It covers everything from architecture, sculpture and painting to everyday life, statecraft, society and religion.
This lavishly illustrated book offers an in-depth look at the tomb chapel of Menna, Theban Tomb 69, which is one of the most beautiful and complex painted tombs in ancient Egypt. Written by an international group of experts, the book offers a window into the life of the official Menna while discussing the artistic, cultural, and scientific significance of his tomb and its decoration.
This irreverent biography provides a rare window into the music industry from a promoter’s perspective. From a young age, Peter Jest was determined to make a career in live music, and despite naysayers and obstacles, he did just that, bringing national acts to his college campus atUW-Milwaukee, booking thousands of…
1184 BCE. Ramesses III, who will become the last of the great pharaohs, is returning home from battle. He will one day assume the throne of the Egyptian empire, and the plots against him and his children have already started. Even a god can die.
