the waddington Lending Library

Author: Joyce Tyldesley

The civilization we know as Ancient Egypt stretched over three thousand years. What was life like for ancient Egyptians?

What were their beliefs – and how different were they from ours?

The Penguin Book of Myths and Legends of Ancient Egypt uses Egypt’s vivid narratives to create a panorama of its history, from the earliest settlers to the time of Cleopatra.

Gathered from pyramid texts, archaeological finds and contemporary documents, these stories cover everything from why the Nile flooded annually to Egyptian beliefs about childbirth and what happened after death. They show us what life was really like for rich and poor, man and woman, farmer and pharaoh, bringing a long-dead culture back to life.

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Author: Toby Wilkinson

This is a story studded with extraordinary achievements and historic moments, from the building of the pyramids and the conquest of Nubia, through Akhenaten’s religious revolution, the power and beauty of Nefertiti, the glory of Tutankhamun’s burial chamber and the ruthlessness of Ramesses, to Alexander the Great’s invasion and Cleopatra’s fatal entanglement with Rome.

As the world’s first nation-state, the history of Ancient Egypt is above all the story of the attempt to unite a disparate realm and defend it against hostile forces from within and without. Combining grand narrative sweep with detailed knowledge of hieroglyphs and the iconography of power, Toby Wilkinson goes behind the dazzling mask to reveal Ancient Egypt in all its complexity.

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Author: Joann Fletcher

The story of the world’s greatest civilisation spans more than 4000 years of history that has shaped the world. It is full of spectacular sites and epic stories, an evolving society rich in heroes and villains, inventors and intellectuals, artisans and pioneers.

Now TV historian Professor Joann Fletcher pulls together the complete story of Egypt and uncovers some fascinating revelations, from Egypt’s oldest art to the beginnings of mummification almost two thousand years earlier than previously believed. She looks at the women who became pharaohs on at least ten occasions, and the evidence that the Egyptians built the first Suez Canal, circumnavigated Africa and won victories at the original Olympic games. From Ramses I’s penchant for dyeing his greying hair to how we know Montuhotep’s wife bit her nails and the farmer Baki liked eating in bed, Joann Fletcher brings alive the history and people of ancient Egypt as nobody else can.

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Author: Henri Stierlin

“The World of the Pharaohs”, gives a broad outline of the three thousand year long evolution of the Pharaonic kingdom. From the dawn of history and the first king who united Upper and Lower Egypt, about 3000 BC, to the closing of the temple of Philae in AD 550, Egyptian civilization displays a never failing cultural, religious and artistic unity.

Dramatic upheavals put an end to the great periods known as the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms. Nevertheless, the constant aim of the monarchs ruling over the Nile Valley was to revive the ancient might and splendour the country first received from their great ancestors: the pyramid-builders.

Centred round abundant and original illustrations presenting the monuments and masterpieces of Pharaonic art in full colour, this book pays very special attention to the works of the “father of architecture”, the Pharaoh Zoser, and his funerary complex at Saggara. It also covers the famous treasures of Tutankhamen, discovered in 1922, and shows in detail the marvellous temples of later Egypt, built during the Ptolemaic period.

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Author: John Romer

A vividly written book… authoritative, informative and entertaining throughout

THE TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT

A book that is bound to become a classic of Egyptology. One of the best serious books on archaeology to appear in many years.’

LOS ANGELES HERALD EXAMINER

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