The Encyclopedia opens with a general map of the region and a chronology of periods and dynasties, providing a context for the entries. The first section of the volume then comprises 14 overviews which explore the history and significance of each period. The main body of the text offers more than 300 alphabetically organized entries, written by some of the most eminent scholars in this field. Areas covered include: artefacts - glass, jewellery, sculpture archaeological practices - dating techniques, representational evidence, textual sources biographies - Howard Carter, Gertrude Caton Thompson, Gaston Maspero buildings - cult temples, private tombs, pyramid complexes geographical features - agriculture, climate, irrigation sites - Abydos, Dakhla Oasis, Thebes social organization - kingship, law, taxation The text is extensively illustrated with over 120 images. Each entry is followed by a selected further reading section which includes foreign language sources to supplement the available works in English.

This student-friendly introduction to the archaeology of ancient Egypt guides readers from the Paleolithic to the Greco-Roman periods, and has now been updated to include recent discoveries and new illustrations. • Superbly illustrated with photographs, maps, and site plans, with additional illustrations in this new edition • Organized into 11 chapters, covering: the history of Egyptology and Egyptian archaeology; prehistoric and pharaonic chronology and the ancient Egyptian language; geography, resources, and environment; and seven chapters organized chronologically and devoted to specific archaeological sites and evidence • Includes sections on salient topics such as the constructing the Great Pyramid at Giza and the process of mummification

The royal necropolis of New Kingdom Egypt, known as the Valley of the Kings (KV), is one of the most important--and celebrated--archaeological sites in the world. Located on the west bank of the Nile river, about three miles west of modern Luxor, the valley is home to more than sixty tombs, all dating to the second millennium BCE. The most famous of these is the tomb of Tutankhamun, first discovered by Howard Carter in 1922. Other famous pharaoh's interred here include Hatshepsut, the only queen found in the valley, and Ramesses II, ancient Egypt's greatest ruler. Much has transpired in the study and exploration of the Valley of the Kings over the last few years. Several major discoveries have been made, notably the many-chambered KV5 (tomb of the sons of Ramesses II) and KV 63, a previously unknown tomb found in the heart of the valley. Many areas of the royal valley have been explored for the first time using new technologies, revealing ancient huts, shrines, and stelae. New studies of the DNA, filiation, cranio-facial reconstructions, and other aspects of the royal mummies have produced important and sometimes controversial results. The Oxford Handbook of the Valley of the Kings provides an up-to-date and thorough reference designed to fill a very real gap in the literature of Egyptology. It will be an invaluable resource for scholars, teachers, and researchers with an interest in this key area of Egyptian archaeology. First, introductory chapters locate the Valley of the Kings in space and time. Subsequent chapters offer focused examinations of individual tombs: their construction, content, development, and significance. Finally, the book discusses the current status of ongoing issues of preservation and archaeology, such as conservation, tourism, and site management. In addition to recent work mentioned above, aerial imaging, remote sensing, studies of the tombs' architectural and decorative symbolism, problems of conservation management, and studies of KV-related temples are just some of the aspects not covered in any other work on the Valley of the Kings. This volume promises to become the primary scholarly reference work on this important World Heritage Site.

Contemporary with the Israelite kingdom of Solomon and David, the Nubian conqueror Piye (Piankhy), and the Assyrian Assurbanipal, Egypt s Third Intermediate Period is of critical interest not only to Egyptologists but also to biblical historians, Africanists, and Assyriologists. Spanning six centuries and as many dynasties, the turbulent era extended from approximately 1100 to 650 B.C.E. This volume, the first extensive collection of Third Intermediate Period inscriptions in any language, includes the primary sources for the history, society, and religion of Egypt during this complicated period, when Egypt was ruled by Libyan and Nubian dynasties and had occasional relations with Judah and the encroaching, and finally invading, Assyrian Empire. It includes the most significant texts of all genres, newly translated and revised. This volume will serve as a source book and companion for the most thorough study of the history of the period, Kitchen s The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt.

Bulletin of the Egyptian Museum is a regular Egyptological forum for scholarly discussion of the various aspects of ancient Egyptian art, objects and collections, conservation, and museology.

Karol Mysliwiec surveys a turbulent time in Ancient Egyptian culture and history -- the eight hundred years between the eleventh century B.C.E. and the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great in 332 B.C.E., after which Egypt became part of the Hellenistic world. It was a time when Libyans, Kushites, Persians, and Greeks ascended to the throne more frequently than did indigenous kings. The history of this phase of pharaonic Egypt, marked by rapid changes in rule, has been relatively neglected until now. Egypt had become increasingly involved in the affairs of its Near Eastern neighbors (Assyria, Babylon, and Persia) and of the Mediterranean world. These many cultures greatly enriched and influenced pharaonic traditions. At the same time, Egyptian civilization extended far beyond the borders of Egypt itself. One of the most important cultural products of this period is the Old Testament, called here "an inestimable source of information on daily life in pharaonic Egypt". Mysliwiec perceives in recent archaeological discoveries clear evidence that the First Millennium B.C.E. was witness to more than a slow, progressive dying out of the pharaonic past; new and creative elements profoundly altered the culture of Ancient Egypt. Originally published in Polish, The Twilight of Ancient Egypt appeared in 1998 in a German edition. The Cornell edition has been updated by the author and also contains previously unpublished photographs of recently discovered treasures.

Andrews answers your questions about mummies, the religious beliefs which lay behind this practice, how animals came to be embalmed, and the role assumed by Egyptian mummies in European culture and mythology.