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La civiltà egizia
Al racconto degli avvenimenti, fitto di particolari, piccole notizie e grandi scoperte, si accompagnano i documenti, la discussione sulle fonti e le iscrizioni, immergendo il lettore nell'atmosfera incantata di una civiltà leggendaria e spesso indecifrabile.
L'egittologo Gardiner ha fuso in questo volume i risultati di due secoli di ricerche, con il proposito di offrire un panorama completo della civiltà egizia, dagli inizi alla conquista di Alessandro Magno. Il saggio include non solo le vicende favolose di un regno plurimellenario, ma anche la lingua, le usanze, i mezzi e i modi dell'esistenza, l'arte, la religione, le espressioni della mentalità collettiva.
L'egittologo Gardiner ha fuso in questo volume i risultati di due secoli di ricerche, con il proposito di offrire un panorama completo della civiltà egizia, dagli inizi alla conquista di Alessandro Magno. Il saggio include non solo le vicende favolose di un regno plurimellenario, ma anche la lingua, le usanze, i mezzi e i modi dell'esistenza, l'arte, la religione, le espressioni della mentalità collettiva.
470 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1961
24 people are currently reading
333 people want to read
About the author
Alan H. Gardiner
108 books31 followersSir Alan H. Gardiner was one of the premier Egyptologists of the early twentieth century. He is probably best remembered for two of his books, Egypt of the Pharaohs, and Egyptian Grammar which is considered to be among the best works in the field of Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.
His interest in Egypt started at an early age. He began his education at Charterhouse and was sent to Paris for a year to study under Gaston Maspero, whom he had come to admire after reading a book he had written. Unfortunately, Maspero’s lectures did not live up to Gardiner’s expectations. From Paris, he traveled to England and attended The Queen’s College at Oxford. There he earned a second in Classical Moderations in 1899, and a first in Hebrew and Arabic in 1901. Gardiner was married that year to Hedwig von Rosen, with whom he had two sons and a daughter.
His interest in Egypt started at an early age. He began his education at Charterhouse and was sent to Paris for a year to study under Gaston Maspero, whom he had come to admire after reading a book he had written. Unfortunately, Maspero’s lectures did not live up to Gardiner’s expectations. From Paris, he traveled to England and attended The Queen’s College at Oxford. There he earned a second in Classical Moderations in 1899, and a first in Hebrew and Arabic in 1901. Gardiner was married that year to Hedwig von Rosen, with whom he had two sons and a daughter.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
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February 9, 2024The book very well research and quite dense, therefore a valuable resource. After visiting Egypt quite recently, I became fascinated with egyptology and want to get my hands on all sort of related books. I started with this one and I may say it even though it says "an introduction" in its title, I found it not fit for purpose. I will just pause for some time and come back to it after I know a bit more on the subject, in order to make the most use of this book.
July 20, 2019
The book was more about Egyptology than about ancient Egyptian History.
That being said, I can't whine about all the different opinions stated concerning who preceeded who or who lived in the time of what. The book was long. Especially because the language was tough.
I did enjoy it though.
That being said, I can't whine about all the different opinions stated concerning who preceeded who or who lived in the time of what. The book was long. Especially because the language was tough.
I did enjoy it though.
October 18, 2021
It is my understanding from other reviews that this book has been used as an Egyptology textbook, which makes sense given the depth and presentation of the material within the book. I chose to read this book after seeing it used as a reference for some books dealing with Old Testament history and culture. After all, given the intersections between the history of the Israelites and the Egyptians, if I want to better understand the ancient Israelites, I need to better understand the ancient Egyptians, as well.
I remember reading Gordon Wenham's commentary on Numbers (Tyndale Old Testament Commentary series). In it he commented about the level of uncertainty on various place names in maps of the Sinai peninsula that are commonly found in Bibles, that those clearly labeled dots on the map often mask a high degree of uncertainty. Similarly, a number of years ago, when I was studying Exodus, I checked out some books on Egyptology from the local library system. I remember seeing the lists of the Dynasties, their Pharaohs and the date ranges over which they reigned. The presentation in those library books and in this book, Egypt of the Pharaohs, were like day and night, Ma'at and Isfet. Those library books showed a false veneer of certainty that was upended by Egypt of the Pharaohs, which discussed various discoveries and the controversies that accompanied their interpretation, not unlike what we engineers refer to as the uncertainty band of a crayon. Not everything is clear cut, as shown by some of the following issues that caught my attention:
- Some Pharaohs would attribute certain glorious battle and campaign records to themselves that may have been associated with an earlier Pharaoh. I am somewhat unsure how Egyptologists sort this out.
- Some Pharaohs would destroy the markings of certain earlier Pharaohs as a sign of disrespect or to claim monuments for their own glory. As above, I am unsure how Egyptologists identify such marking destruction and determine the original marking.
- There is sometimes conflicting information. For example, there are various ancient king lists that don't always agree with each other and were often incomplete. Pharaohs often went by more than one name, and this may account for some of the discrepancies.
- During the intermediate periods, some dynasties coexisted, ruling different parts of Egypt, although the king lists might give the impression that the dynasties were sequential. Again, the Egyptologists had to sort this out.
- Some Pharaohs had both a tomb in one location and a cenotaph elsewhere, both bearing the name of the Pharaoh, providing confusion regarding where he was actually buried.
- On account of looting of Pharaonic tombs, at one point, the occupants of multiple tombs were moved into a single tomb, leaving a lot of empty tombs to be found by archaeologists three millennia later.
- Archaeologists have to work with what they have found of what has survived from the past. Sometimes very important Pharaohs have left behind very few artifacts while insignificant Pharaohs have left behind an abundance of artifacts.
- The high water table of the Nile Delta has limited the ability of archaeologists to excavate some sites of Lower Egypt. This reminds me of some of the issues documented in Robert Koldeway's excavation report on Babylon.
- Some archaeologists, especially those from the early days of Egyptology, haven't done a particularly good job of documenting their excavations and finds.
I am not perturbed by uncertainty; it is a part of life, after all. That said, I appreciated how this book explains how Egyptologists go from artifact, whether document or object, to the grand narrative of Egyptian history.
I remember reading Gordon Wenham's commentary on Numbers (Tyndale Old Testament Commentary series). In it he commented about the level of uncertainty on various place names in maps of the Sinai peninsula that are commonly found in Bibles, that those clearly labeled dots on the map often mask a high degree of uncertainty. Similarly, a number of years ago, when I was studying Exodus, I checked out some books on Egyptology from the local library system. I remember seeing the lists of the Dynasties, their Pharaohs and the date ranges over which they reigned. The presentation in those library books and in this book, Egypt of the Pharaohs, were like day and night, Ma'at and Isfet. Those library books showed a false veneer of certainty that was upended by Egypt of the Pharaohs, which discussed various discoveries and the controversies that accompanied their interpretation, not unlike what we engineers refer to as the uncertainty band of a crayon. Not everything is clear cut, as shown by some of the following issues that caught my attention:
- Some Pharaohs would attribute certain glorious battle and campaign records to themselves that may have been associated with an earlier Pharaoh. I am somewhat unsure how Egyptologists sort this out.
- Some Pharaohs would destroy the markings of certain earlier Pharaohs as a sign of disrespect or to claim monuments for their own glory. As above, I am unsure how Egyptologists identify such marking destruction and determine the original marking.
- There is sometimes conflicting information. For example, there are various ancient king lists that don't always agree with each other and were often incomplete. Pharaohs often went by more than one name, and this may account for some of the discrepancies.
- During the intermediate periods, some dynasties coexisted, ruling different parts of Egypt, although the king lists might give the impression that the dynasties were sequential. Again, the Egyptologists had to sort this out.
- Some Pharaohs had both a tomb in one location and a cenotaph elsewhere, both bearing the name of the Pharaoh, providing confusion regarding where he was actually buried.
- On account of looting of Pharaonic tombs, at one point, the occupants of multiple tombs were moved into a single tomb, leaving a lot of empty tombs to be found by archaeologists three millennia later.
- Archaeologists have to work with what they have found of what has survived from the past. Sometimes very important Pharaohs have left behind very few artifacts while insignificant Pharaohs have left behind an abundance of artifacts.
- The high water table of the Nile Delta has limited the ability of archaeologists to excavate some sites of Lower Egypt. This reminds me of some of the issues documented in Robert Koldeway's excavation report on Babylon.
- Some archaeologists, especially those from the early days of Egyptology, haven't done a particularly good job of documenting their excavations and finds.
I am not perturbed by uncertainty; it is a part of life, after all. That said, I appreciated how this book explains how Egyptologists go from artifact, whether document or object, to the grand narrative of Egyptian history.
August 10, 2021
I found this to be a fine work. In the foreword the author expresses his wish that his work be a work on Egyptology for the wider public. Following in the vein of James H. Breasted whose book 'A history of Egypt', published in 1909, was the seminal introductory work on the subject.
This book is a both a good introductory work but, more importantly, an excellent work for a deeper understanding of Egyptian writing, culture and chronology. As well as Egyptology in general.
As an introductory work it is perhaps a little to in-depth for true appreciation. Gardiner is very correct in his use of both Horus and prenomen, nomen titles for each Pharoah. However, this may be confusing to some and difficult to follow. Similarly, Gardiner uses the greacised spelling of Pharonic titles. This will be confusing to those used to say Amenhotep as Amenhotpe Amenphosis are used.
Whilst I am by no means an expert on the subject, I do have a reasonable background knowledge of both Egypt and the history of Egyptology. I found this an excellent book. The level of detail and scholarly nature of the work were truly appreciated. I think this is well deserving of multiple readings.
So, I'd highly recommend for the enthusiast on the subject or those with some background knowledge. As an introductory work, maybe, I'd look elsewhere. Maybe, even, J. H. Breasted, gone full circle here.
Thanks for reading
This book is a both a good introductory work but, more importantly, an excellent work for a deeper understanding of Egyptian writing, culture and chronology. As well as Egyptology in general.
As an introductory work it is perhaps a little to in-depth for true appreciation. Gardiner is very correct in his use of both Horus and prenomen, nomen titles for each Pharoah. However, this may be confusing to some and difficult to follow. Similarly, Gardiner uses the greacised spelling of Pharonic titles. This will be confusing to those used to say Amenhotep as Amenhotpe Amenphosis are used.
Whilst I am by no means an expert on the subject, I do have a reasonable background knowledge of both Egypt and the history of Egyptology. I found this an excellent book. The level of detail and scholarly nature of the work were truly appreciated. I think this is well deserving of multiple readings.
So, I'd highly recommend for the enthusiast on the subject or those with some background knowledge. As an introductory work, maybe, I'd look elsewhere. Maybe, even, J. H. Breasted, gone full circle here.
Thanks for reading
May 12, 2020
Troppe informazioni senza pausa. Testo ricco ma con un'organizzazione e una stesura un pò stanche.
March 30, 2019
Very informative
January 28, 2015
The book is well researched and still presents a good introduction into Egyptian history. Though outdated in certain parts, Gardiner relies too heavily on the "veracity" of the textual sources he employs. So, for instance, Hatshepsut is rendered in negative light as she was omitted from king lists in later times and her stepson also erasing her name off monuments. Definitely recommend reading it it as Gardiner was THE Egyptologist of his time.
February 2, 2016
Se scrivessi che mi sono annoiata, poi gli egittologi se la prenderebbero a male..eppure! Per essere considerato una delle pietre miliari della storia egiziana antica l'ho trovato abbastanza antiquato e stucchevole. Insomma, un testo abbastanza noioso che ho utilizzato per l'esame di archeologia egiziana all'università. Spero di leggere qualcosa di più interessante e meno dispersivo in futuro. È un sovraccarico di informazioni a volte disordinate.
August 16, 2015
8/10
Un'introduzione generale per il profano, che tuttavia non resta nel vago come molti altri libri del genere e anzi scende in interessanti dettagli dove necessario. Ottimo per farsi un'idea di base della materia, nonostante abbia i suoi anni e vada quindi messo in una certa prospettiva.
Un'introduzione generale per il profano, che tuttavia non resta nel vago come molti altri libri del genere e anzi scende in interessanti dettagli dove necessario. Ottimo per farsi un'idea di base della materia, nonostante abbia i suoi anni e vada quindi messo in una certa prospettiva.
August 24, 2009
Packed with information but very, very dry. It's get better as you move past the first few chapters though.
October 8, 2015
This is very good introduction to the history of Eqypt and I want to get more books on the subject.
April 24, 2017
This had a good overview of all the dynasties of Egypt. It includes information from several sources and points out places where various scholars have differing opinions on names and time periods. Recommended to anyone interested in Egyptian history.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews