Life under the Pharaohs

by Leonard Cottrell

Historical reference book of the daily life of the ancient Egyptians. With photos.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Egypt

253 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1964

About the author

Leonard Eric Cottrell was a prolific and popular British author and journalist. Many of his books were popularizations of the archaeology of ancient Egypt.

Leonard Cottrell was born in 1913 in Tettenhall, Wolverhampton, to William and Beatrice Cottrell (née Tootell). His father inspired his interest in history from a very young age. At King Edward's Grammar School, Birmingham, Leonard was notably only interested in English and history, in which he read widely.

In the 1930s, Cottrell toured the English countryside on his motorcycle, visiting prehistoric stone circles, burial mounds of the Bronze Age, medieval and Renaissance monuments. On those journeys, he was often accompanied by Doris Swain, whom he later married. After gaining experience writing articles on historical subjects for motoring magazines, he wrote his first documentary for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in 1937.

Cottrell was rejected by the RAF during World War II for medical reasons, but he joined the BBC in 1942 and was stationed in the Mediterranean with the RAF in 1944, as a war correspondent. His wartime experiences formed the basis of his book All Men are Neighbours (1947). He worked at the BBC until 1960, when he resigned and moved to a house overlooking the estuary of the River Kent in Westmoreland, Cumbria, where he stayed for the rest of his life, writing.

Among other achievements, Cottrell was the editor of the Concise Encyclopaedia of Archaeology (1965).

He was married and divorced twice, first to Doris Swain (divorced 1962) and Diana Bonakis (married 1965; divorced 1968). He had no children by either marriage.

Leonard Cottrell died on 6 October 1974.

Reviews

[Paul Morrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was about twelve years old, I came across this book in my local library. It helped create for me a lifelong interest in Ancient Egypt. Recently, I was able to purchase a copy of Life Under the Pharaohs by Leonard Cottrell and to read and enjoy the book once more. Though major advances have now been made in Egyptology since it was first published in 1955, Life Under the Pharaohs still remains a fascinating, informative and enjoyable reading experience. In his flowing and easy to read narrative, Cottrell transports the reader, (through the experiences of the real-life Rekhmire who lived more than 3500 years ago), into the life and the mind of the Ancient Egyptian. Leonard Cottrell still remains one of my favourite writers, having written a number of books on the Ancient World - I look forward to reading more of his books...

[Tom Schulte · Rating 3 out of 5]

This slim volume is an example of social history, that branch of history that examines the experiences, lives, and social structures of ordinary people, rather than focusing solely on political or military events. This explores the everyday lives, social dynamics, and cultural practices of Egyptian society, largely in the New Kingdom era when it achieved the peak of its power. This is done in a creative nonfiction mode where scenarios and stories are conjured up as possibilities from details in murals and in translated poetry and songs.

B&W plates illustrate the murals and sculptures referred to while most of the literature comes in translation from The literature of the ancient Egyptians: Poems, narratives, and manuals of instruction, from the third and second millennia B.C. Some of these translation got me thinking of Old Testament ideas with a precedent in this Egyptian literature, such a parting of the waters:

The King then explains the position, whereupon the obliging magician performs, in miniature, the same act which Moses was to accomplish much later at the crossing of the Red Sea.

Then the chief kherheb Zazamonkh said his say of magic, and he placed the one side of the water of the lake upon the other, and found the fish-pendant lying on a potsherd. And he brought it and gave it to his mistress. Now as for the water, it was twelve cubits deep in the middle, and it reached twenty-four cubits after it was turned back [in other words, Zazamonkh folded the water back like a cloth]. Then he said his say of magic, and he brought the waters of the lake back to their place.

Or, casual usage of a monotheistic language, as in Psalm 95 : 3, "For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods."

Then follows a moving prayer, addressed not to any particular god in the Egyptian pantheon, not to Amun, or Ptah, or Horus, but simply to "God":

O God, whosoever thou art, that didst ordain this flight, be merciful and bring me again to the Residence. Peradventure thou wilt suffer me to see the place wherein my heart dwelleth. What is a greater matter than that my corpse should be buried in the land where I was born? Come to mine aid! May good befall, may God show me mercy....

[Kylie McGenniskin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in under a day. It flows well, very easy read, and really interesting to keep you glued to the page. There are many books on the pyramids, but this is the first I have read about the every day life of the people. It mostly focused on the lives of the elite classes, but there is very little on the day to day life of the poorer folk. Told as a narrative using research as a base, it tells a colourful tale of a group of the elite, following their day-to-day lives through events that did actually take place at one time or another.

[Cathy Dunnell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very readable introduction to life in Ancient Egypt. It was published in the 1950s so, as with all history writing, it reflects the assumptions and prejudices of its time. But it succeeds in its aim of giving an overview of what life was like and is accessible to someone like me who knew very little about the subject beforehand.

[Catherine Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very readable introduction to life in Ancient Egypt. It was published in the 1950s so, as with all history writing, it reflects the assumptions and prejudices of its time. But it succeeds in its aim of giving an overview of what life was like and is accessible to someone like me who knew very little about the subject beforehand.

[Catherine Oughtibridge]

Mixing a historical account with fictional scenes this book brings to life the Vizier Rekhmire, who was the highest official in the court of King Tutmosis III, and his family. It is based on archaeological evidence predominantly in the tomb of Rekhmire, found in the Theban necropolis. The author does well to separate different sections of daily life into chapters that are easily read separately but have the same characters flowing through them.

I found it enjoyable, but my copy didn’t include the pictures, and so could have done with having the references to them removed. There was a paragraph repeated at the beginning of the penultimate and final chapters, which were also both the XIV chapter with the same titles.

[Vicki Cline · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book describes various aspects of life in Egypt around 1500 BC - houses and furniture, school, the army, medicine, commerce. Interspersed between the narrative about the different subjects is a story about a particular family, that of the Vizier Rekhmire, a real person we know about from the decorations on the walls of his tomb. I liked the personal aspects of the story; it made the non-fiction parts much more interesting.

[Lucinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was actually pretty easy to read, the only chapter I skimmed was the one on houses/furniture...
The author obviously likes his subject and wants other people to like it too.