Ancient Egypt: A Very Short Introduction

The ancient Egyptians are an enduring source of fascination-mummies and pyramids, curses and rituals have captured the imagination of generations. We all have a mental picture of ancient Egypt, but how much do we really know about this great civilization?

Ian Shaw describes how our current ideas about Egypt are based not only on discoveries made by early Egyptologist but also on fascinating new kinds of evidence produced by modern scientific and linguistic analyses. He also explores the changing influences on our responses to these finds, through such media as literature, cinema, and contemporary are. Each chapter deals with a different aspect of ancient Egypt, from the despotic pharoahs to dismembered bodies, and from hieroglyphs to animal-headed gods.