Synopses & Reviews
Mark Lehner brings his many years of field research in Egypt to this definitive book. He examines the pyramids in unprecedented detail, covering the practical aspects--the quarries, ramps, and tools used in construction--as well as the conceptual ones. Professor Lehner surveys and describes the pyramids across their 3,000-year history, as well as explaining the rituals and mythology, the history of travelers, looters, and archaeologists, and the ways in which the pyramids were an integral part of the Egyptian state. The hundreds of illustrations include computer reconstructions and specially commissioned artists' perspective views of the pyramids and their interior chambers. The book is at once a definitive sourcebook and an entertaining guide for scholars, students, and travelers.
Synopsis
There is a vast range of books on Egypt on the market at present, and it is often hard to make a choice between them; most have a decent text, and one can hardly avoid beautiful illustrations on such a subject. However if you are particularly interested in the pyramids, this may be the book for you. It claims comprehensiveness in being the first fully illustrated survey of all Egypt's pyramids, the text is well-written and based on up-to-date research, and the author is an expert in this field. There is information on many aspects of the pyramids; the legends surrounding them, the activities of archaeologists, the towns which grew around them, the priests and servants who had responsibility for them, and most of all the construction and craftsmanship of the structures themselves. The text is accompanied by many useful explanatory and reconstructive illustrations.
Synopsis
Professor Lehner surveys and describes the pyramids across their 3,000-year history, as well as explaining the rituals and mythology, the history of travelers, looters, and archaeologists, and the ways in which the pyramids were an integral part of the Egyptian state The hundreds of illustrations include computer reconstructions and specially commissioned artists' perspective views of the pyramids and their interior chambers. The book is at once a definitive sourcebook and an entertaining guide for scholars, students, and travelers.
Synopsis
"A fully illustrated compendium of every major pyramid of ancient Egypt."--
About the Author
Mark Lehner is Research Associate at The Oriental Institute, University of Chicago, and the Harvard Semitic Museum. He has been Director of the Giza Plateau Mapping Project since 1984.