Walk Like an Ancient Egyptian

Ancient Egypt: Its Culture and History – J.E. Manchip White

Cable TV is jam packed with the ancient Egyptians. While enjoyable to look at – how did their painters get those amazing shades of blue  - these documentaries seldom give the big picture so we viewers assume that the New Kingdom Nineteenth Dynasty, Egypt’s most prosperous period, is all there is to know.

This comprehensive and readable book chronicles from Egypt-s pre-dynastic civilization to the Ptolemies. The chapters are divided according to theme such as social and political structure, war and international relations, religious ideas, visual arts, science and medicine, and the writing system. First published in 1952, and updated in the late 1960s, it is not close to current, but we can always watch for docs on the latest discoveries and research on the History Channel (when it's not showing reality shows featuring people we fall on our knees and thank heaven we don't know).

This book will give a good foundation to the general reader. The 48 monochrome pictures are not always clearly reproduced. Some ethnocentric attitudes (e.g. those litigation-loving Semites) near the end of the book will make us post-moderns roll our eyes.