In this landmark work, one of the world’s most renowned Egyptologists tells the epic story of this great civilization, from its birth as the first nation-state to its final absorption into the Roman Empire—three thousand years of wild drama, bold spectacle, and unforgettable characters.
Award-winning scholar Toby Wilkinson captures not only the lavish pomp and artistic grandeur of this land of pyramids and pharaohs but for the first time reveals the constant propaganda and repression that were its foundations. Drawing upon forty years of archaeological research, Wilkinson takes us inside an exotic tribal society with a pre-monetary economy and decadent, divine kings who ruled with all-too-recognizable human emotions.
Here are the years of the Old Kingdom, where Pepi II, made king as an infant, was later undermined by rumors of his affair with an army general, and the Middle Kingdom, a golden age of literature and jewelry in which the benefits of the afterlife became available for all, not just royalty—a concept later underlying Christianity. Wilkinson then explores the legendary era of the New Kingdom, a lost world of breathtaking opulence founded by Ahmose, whose parents were siblings, and who married his sister and transformed worship of his family into a national cult. Other leaders include Akhenaten, the “heretic king,” who with his wife Nefertiti brought about a revolution with a bold new religion; his son Tutankhamun, whose dazzling tomb would remain hidden for three millennia; and eleven pharaohs called Ramesses, the last of whom presided over the militarism, lawlessness, and corruption that caused a crucial political and societal decline.
Riveting and revelatory, filled with new information and unique interpretations, The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt will become the standard source about this great civilization, one that lasted—so far—longer than any other.
4 有用 殷顽民 2018-07-17 23:53:37
长篇书评见 https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/vxT3-L0zKm3zxduOrYWwzg
1 有用 之如 2018-07-17 01:50:26
出乎意料的喜欢。不过这是我的第一本正埃及史,所以是缺乏对比下的评价。
1 有用 温柔的鲸鱼 2016-02-13 22:02:15
people learn from the history that people never learn from the history. great great narrative, deeply rooted in details and analysis.
0 有用 庄常飞 2013-01-24 09:03:22
料很多,很多考古知识,但作为通俗史好枯燥
0 有用 𒀭Dennis Ma 2023-03-09 13:06:13 辽宁
一本埃及历史演义,作者通过添油加醋的叙述重建了一个精彩也颇具启示性的埃及历史,通过现代的价值尺度对古埃及社会做出了一系列嘲讽。这本书确实提供了一个理解历史的视角,同时也诱导读者们对一社会中系列现象进行反思,但它同时也助长了一种将自己价值观强加于人的傲慢,以及一种现代文明的优越感。首先我不认同将历史化为道德说教的行为,而且从道德的层面来说,这本书本身就面临内在的道德危机,又有什么资格对别人说教?
0 有用 𒀭Dennis Ma 2023-03-09 13:06:13 辽宁
一本埃及历史演义,作者通过添油加醋的叙述重建了一个精彩也颇具启示性的埃及历史,通过现代的价值尺度对古埃及社会做出了一系列嘲讽。这本书确实提供了一个理解历史的视角,同时也诱导读者们对一社会中系列现象进行反思,但它同时也助长了一种将自己价值观强加于人的傲慢,以及一种现代文明的优越感。首先我不认同将历史化为道德说教的行为,而且从道德的层面来说,这本书本身就面临内在的道德危机,又有什么资格对别人说教?
4 有用 殷顽民 2018-07-17 23:53:37
长篇书评见 https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/vxT3-L0zKm3zxduOrYWwzg
1 有用 之如 2018-07-17 01:50:26
出乎意料的喜欢。不过这是我的第一本正埃及史,所以是缺乏对比下的评价。
1 有用 温柔的鲸鱼 2016-02-13 22:02:15
people learn from the history that people never learn from the history. great great narrative, deeply rooted in details and analysis.
0 有用 庄常飞 2013-01-24 09:03:22
料很多,很多考古知识,但作为通俗史好枯燥