100 books like Life and Death in Ancient Egypt

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.

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 the Kings, also published by White Star. I always pack this guidebook when I’m leading tours.

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. 

If you read A God Against the Gods, you have to read Return to Thebes.

For my part, the descriptions of Luxor and Thebes were key to writing my book, but I also needed to know how this dynasty ended. Besides, finally King Tut has his say.

Moreover, I loved the introduction of Seti and his son, for the dynasty they created after Tut’s fall is one that still captures the imagination of Egyptologists and fans alike.

We follow the slave, Taita, an expert in art, poetry, medicine, and engineering after he is commanded to look after a young princess married off to the Pharoah. Smith’s portrayal of ancient Egypt during the era of the pharaohs will enthrall you, all while weaving a heart-racing tale of bravery, heroism, revenge, and love. I particularly had a fondness for the faithful and affectionate friendship he had with the Queen all throughout her life.

Wilbur Smith, who sadly passed in November 2021, trailblazed adventure writing. While The River God is perhaps his most memorable entry in his Ancient Egypt series, Warlock is stuffed with descriptions of military training and combat. I particularly enjoyed ‘The Red Road’ sequence – while not battle-focused, Mr. Smith took pains to unpack the various modes of fighting available to contemporary Bronze Age Egyptians.

Smith’s detailing of chariot-centered battle would satisfy everyone from engineers to historians - particularly in Warlock’s climax. Javelins and bows hurtling from hundreds of chariots makes for a unique style of combat that is difficult to acquire elsewhere – as is the struggles of engaging in mass military operations when surrounded by desert.

For my research, I was in touch with Egyptologists who have studied the collection of sticks and staves that were buried with Pharaoh Tutankhamun.

Some of those artifacts were decorated with little pieces of iridescent beetle wings—and “that glittery, beetle-y effect,” as I put it, is still visible today! Tutankhamun’s tomb, however, included so much more, and this book puts into context not only the way that the pharaoh’s life and death were honored but also how the treasures were discovered and what we’ve learned from them.

Kids who connect with this book may well be on their way to becoming Egyptologists themselves…

I always start my research at a library. I find the shelves on Egyptian history, grab a stack of books, plop down on the floor, and read until I can’t feel my legs. There’s never a shortage of Egyptology resources, but why must the scholars always disagree? Only by reading widely can I find a golden thread of agreement across the many sources. Oftentimes, a particular scholar will emerge as the leading expert on a particular time period and appear in a majority of quoted material and/or bibliographies. The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt was both easy to understand and included interesting details while also following the consensus of the best New Kingdom scholars.

This work is divided into three clearly differentiated parts.

The first delves into the development of state administration, both in the royal court and in the provinces during the third millennium BC. The second delves into the structure and organization of a cemetery contemporary with Qubbet el-Hawa, where I excavate, so it offers me a complementary perspective of analysis. Finally, Harco Williams focuses on the study of the diversity of funerary inscriptions present on the coffins of the Middle Kingdom.