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A review by sjgochenour
Temples, Tombs & Hieroglyphs: A Popular History of Ancient Egypt by Barbara Mertz
5.0
I heartily recommend this book, though I confess I will need to investigate other more recent works to see if any of the theories have been proven/disproven. Aside from giving an overview, this is full of entertaining and thought-provoking anecdotes about archaeological puzzles and interesting tidbits from the historic texts.
That being said, I'm not going to pretend that it isn't wildly satisfying for a fan of Amelia Peabody to read this book and locate all the things that Barbara Mertz worked into the series (the tale of Sinuhe, the butchered skull of the pharaoh Sekenenre, the workmen's village at Deir-el Medina, and of course and always, the innumerable mysteries of Akhenaten.) The author knew what she found fascinating and kept coming back to those questions over a forty-year career.
That being said, I'm not going to pretend that it isn't wildly satisfying for a fan of Amelia Peabody to read this book and locate all the things that Barbara Mertz worked into the series (the tale of Sinuhe, the butchered skull of the pharaoh Sekenenre, the workmen's village at Deir-el Medina, and of course and always, the innumerable mysteries of Akhenaten.) The author knew what she found fascinating and kept coming back to those questions over a forty-year career.