'Concerning Egypt itself, I shall extend my remarks to a great length, because there is no country that possesses so many wonders.' The Greek writer Herodotus wrote these words as long ago as the 5th century BC, and the ancient civilization of Egypt has continued to cast its spell on historians, archaeologists and visitors ever since. Thanks to its geographical isolation, Egypt developed a unique and self-contained culture whose religion, customs, art, architecture and social structures changed little over 3000 years. And its dry climate led to the preservation of a wealth of monuments including ancient cities, pyramids, temples and other sumptuous artefacts. The Pharaohs is an illustrated history of the kings who ruled over this extraordinary land, narrating the story of 30 dynasties starting around 3100 BC when the first pharaoh, Menes, unified Upper and Lower Egypt, and ending with the conquest of Egypt in 332 BC by Alexander the Great. It profiles powerful, and sometimes enigmatic, rulers such as Mentuhotep II, Thutmose III, Amenophis II, Akhenaten, Tutankhamun and Ramesses II. The story of these kings includes such seminal events in ancient Egyptian history as the development of the science of writing and the building of the first pyramid at Saqqara during the Archaic Period; the building of the pyramids at Giza by the centralized administration of the Old Kingdom; the expansion of trade with the Levant and Nubia during the Middle Kingdom (the 'classical' phase of pharaonic civilization); the rule of the foreign Hyksos kings and their introduction of technical innovations such as the horse-drawn chariot; the undertaking of grandiose building projects in the Valley of the Kings by the pharaohs of New Kingdom; expansion into Palestine and Syria which led to conflict with the Hittites; the long decline of Egypt during the Late Period, culminating in its invasion and annexation by Persia and its eventual conquest by Alexander the Great.

The Egyptians gave us the great pyramids, the Sphinx, magnificent treasures, and some of the most beautiful art and architecture in history. Brian Fagan, a renowned lecturer and professor of archaeology, makes this ancient civilization come alive, taking the reader on an unforgettable journey, spanning 6,000 years, into the world of Seti, Ramses II, Tutankhamun, and other pharaohs who left evidence of their mighty achievements. Egypt of the Pharaohs weaves together fascinating details of daily life and dynastic intrigue and also delves into the generations of explorers, treasure hunters, and archaeologists who--not always with honorable objectives--searched, studied, and plundered Egypt s past glories. The search goes on, and Brian Fagan relates the latest findings of modern-day archaeologists who continue to unearth fresh evidence of how ancient Egyptians lived and died. Stunning photographs--many never before seen--enrich this comprehensive and engrossing work. Egypt of the Pharaohs will be irrestible to armchair Egyptologists and all those eager to learn more about a civilization that still exerts a powerful hold on the imagination. Zahi Hawass, director general of the Pyramids and author of Valley of the Golden Mummies, discusses the scope of the book in his foreword.

Traces the history of Egyptian civilization, which began in the Eastern Desert over six thousand years ago.

A two-volume 1925 history of ancient Egypt, offering a chronological narrative from the earliest dynasty to the mid-eighteenth.

The names of ancient Egyptian kings such as Cheops, Akhenaten, and Ramesses II have become part of popular culture. Yet, for all the tombs and statuary that have survived over the millennia, surprisingly little remains that speaks to the workings of government, cabals in the palace, political factions, and the private lives of the royal families. In The Book of the Pharaohs, Pascal Vernus and Jean Yoyotte offer an indispensable, basic reference to the full human reality of royal Egypt. The Book of the Pharaohs is an encyclopedia made up of short essays on the pharaohs themselves, as well as on places, dynasties, personages, subjects, and themes relating to the kings and their rule. Entries range from "Adoratrices" (priestesses of Hathor, the Egyptian Aphrodite, whose role was to arouse the erotic impulse in the creator gods) and "Amarna" (the capital created by the heretic pharaoh Akhenaten) to "Scorpion" (who ruled before the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt) and "Zero Dynasty" (the designation for pre-pharaonic Egypt). In addition, Vernus and Yoyotte include a substantial essay on the sources for Egyptian history, a bibliography of books for general readers, and a chronological table that organizes the major periods of Egyptian history and notes the most illustrious royal names from each.