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snowcitygirl's review against another edition
Realized trying to listen to the audiobook wasn’t helping to follow along and retain the information - may try again in a physical copy.
tamarant4's review against another edition
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
4.0
Admiring students of ancient Egypt have credited the Egyptians with the invention of many interesting and useful pursuits, but no one has ever given them their due as the originators of the pernicious habit of scribbling on tourist attractions. [p. 56]
First published in 1964, and updated several times since then (for instance, to acknowledge the 'enormous fun' of Raiders of the Lost Ark), this is the classic 'popular history' of Ancient Egypt: it turns out also to have influenced Rosemary Harris' trilogy (starting with The Moon in the Cloud) set in Old Testament times, in which Canaanite animal tamer Reuben visits Egypt several times. And Mertz, as Elizabeth Peters, also wrote the immensely popular Amelia Peabody books (starting with Crocodile on the Sandbank) with their 'lady Egyptologist' heroine, and mostly set in late 19th century Egypt. Excellent credentials, and this book did not disappoint.
Temples, Tombs and Hieroglyphs is an enjoyable and informative read, covering the history of Egypt from Menes, the first King of the Two Lands, to the decline of Egyptian civilisation under the Romans -- a period of three thousand years. It's enlivened by the author's distinctive voice and sardonic observations: she has no time for 'pyramidiots' but is fond of theories that have a romantic resonance. Her love for her subject is evident on every page. I learnt a lot about the different dynasties, the role of women (and especially royal women), and the changing fashions in burial, from pots of aromatic ointment to mere depictions of those pots.
She also has an excellent summary of Egyptian artistic style, with its faces in profile and eyes in front view: 'The Egyptians did not work in this way because they could not draw a face in front view; behind their technique was a concept of the universe that made visual impressions unimportant. They did not care what something looked like, but what it was like, and they worked out a way of expressing the essential qualities of objects that satisfied them so thoroughly that they continued to use it for three thousand years.' [p. 73] And her account of some of the enduring puzzles of Egyptology (empty sarcophagi, Akhenaten's physiognomy) are engaging and clear.
One vexing issue was that 'off' had been replaced by 'of' nearly everywhere -- 'she cast of the trailing skirts of a woman and put on the kilt and crown of a king, and she carried it of for twenty years' and, even more egregiously, 'the of spring of the reigning monarch'. Confusing, until I'd identified the issue.
noel_rene_cisneros's review against another edition
4.0
Una historia del Antiguo Egipto desde la prehistoria hasta los Ptolomeos. Mertz hace un acercamiento a los mayores estudios y descubrimientos de la egiptología que se han efectuado en los últimos siglos (y también por los griegos y romanos) para ofrecer una amplia imagen de esa dilatada historia en la que la civilización del Nilo floreció.
jacki_f's review against another edition
3.0
Wildly uneven - at times fascinating, at others it's like reading one of those books in the Old Testament which are all "Seth begat Enosh begat Kenan begat Mahalalel". When it slows down and focuses on some of the fascinating individuals - Hemium, Hatshepsut, Akhenaton, Thutmose III - it is riveting.
Barbara Mertz was an archeologist who approaches Egyptian history from that perspective. (She also wrote novels under the nom de plume "Elizabeth Peters"). This means that she can explain how mummies are identified and what they can tell us about the lives of the individuals in a way that is really interesting. It also means that she might decide to explain at great length how pottery shards are dated and classified which is...not so interesting. She has a chatty writing style, prone to dropping lines like "I don't want to get started on this because it makes me lose my temper" or "It's not necessary to remember the names; they will not turn up again in these pages. I just put them in to show how thorough I am."
There's a ton of information packed into this relatively slim book. It gives you an overall history of Egypt as well as drilling down into some of the most interesting periods. There were parts when I would have loved an editor to rein her in but when it's good, it's terrific.
Barbara Mertz was an archeologist who approaches Egyptian history from that perspective. (She also wrote novels under the nom de plume "Elizabeth Peters"). This means that she can explain how mummies are identified and what they can tell us about the lives of the individuals in a way that is really interesting. It also means that she might decide to explain at great length how pottery shards are dated and classified which is...not so interesting. She has a chatty writing style, prone to dropping lines like "I don't want to get started on this because it makes me lose my temper" or "It's not necessary to remember the names; they will not turn up again in these pages. I just put them in to show how thorough I am."
There's a ton of information packed into this relatively slim book. It gives you an overall history of Egypt as well as drilling down into some of the most interesting periods. There were parts when I would have loved an editor to rein her in but when it's good, it's terrific.
sofer_mahir's review against another edition
4.0
This book was delightfully witty in addition to being informative. It was like being made to drink from a firehose, but the fireman holding the hose is very charismatic.
sgabriele2123's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoy her humor and irreverence on a subject that can be rather stuffy.
imanb9601's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
3.75