Royal Annals of Ancient Egypt

by Toby Wilkinson, Toby A.H. Wilkinson

The kings of ancient Egypt's first five dynasties were responsible for the creation of a unique and enduring civilisation, epitomised by its most impressive monuments, the pyramids. Yet what do we know about the reigns of these kings? Excavations have revealed much; but Egyptology has always been blessed with another rich source of information, the written texts and inscriptions composed by the ancient Egyptians themselves. For the history of the first five dynasties, one particular series of inscriptions has always been of prime importance. This is the collection of inscribed, stone fragments known as the royal annals. Now divided between museums in Palermo, Cairo and London, these documents from ancient Egypt have been the focus of countless studies in the century or so since they first came to light. For they seem to record the reigns of Egypt's early kings on a reign-by-reign, year-by-year basis. The information they contain has been translated, interpreted and re-interpreted by generations of Egyptologists, in the hope of achieving a better understanding of the first great period of ancient Egyptian history. And yet amazingly for such crucial documents, no complete edition of all seven surviving fragments has ever been published. Royal Annals fills this gap. The text is accompanied by specially-commissioned, detailed line-drawings of all the fragments.

Genres: Anthropology

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 4, 2000

About the author

Dr Toby Wilkinson joined the International Strategy Office in July 2011, working with the Pro Vice Chancellor (Jennifer Barnes) to support the schools, faculties and departments in their international engagements, and to develop the University's international strategy, particularly with regard to research collaborations and relationships with the EU, US, India and China. Prior to this, Dr Wilkinson was the Development Director at Clare College as well as Chairman of Cambridge Colleges Development Group.

As an acknowledged expert on ancient Egyptian civilisation and one of the leading Egyptologists of his generation, Toby Wilkinson has lectured around the world. He has excavated at the Egyptian sites of Buto and Memphis. He is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Egyptian History and has broadcast on radio and television in the UK and abroad, including BBC’s Horizon and Channel 4’s Private Lives of the Pharaohs, and was the consultant for the BBC’s award-winning documentary on the building of the Great Pyramid.

Upon graduating from the University of Cambridge he received the University’s Thomas Mulvey Prize and was elected to the prestigious Lady Wallis Budge Junior Research Fellowship in Egyptology. He is a Fellow of Clare College, University of Cambridge and an Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Durham.

Reviews

[Leah Markum · Rating 2 out of 5]

Historically interesting and worry saying "I read it", well, skimmed it. However, I suspect unless you're a hardcore Egypt historian, the specific content won't be interesting. The Palermo Stones, known collectively as the Royal Annals, are 4400 years old and still around as fragments. Good luck finding an online translation though. I'm finding ancient Egyptian content, particularly this one, difficult to find. I gave up for a while. I feel like an amateur historian just for tracking it down.