The Ancient South Asian World

by Kenoyer, Jonathan Mark; Heuston, Kimberley

• ISBN13: 9780195174229
• ISBN10: 0195174224
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-06-23
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Taking readers back 4,000 years, to the fertile land around the Nile River, The Ancient Egyptian World tells the stories of the kings, queens, pharaohs, gods, tomb builders, and ordinary citizens who lived there. Using papyri, scarabs, tomb inscriptions, mummies, and a rich variety of other primary sources, Eric H. Cline and Jill Rubalcaba uncover the fascinating history of ancient Egypt. Scarabs, which scholars call "imperial news bulletins," record important moments in a pharaoh's reign. The Edwin Smith Papyrus details the injuries sustained by the builders of the great pyramids, and the remedies used to treat them. For a worker who has had a stone fall on his head, it suggests: &ldbind it with fresh meat ... and treat afterward with grease, honey and lint." A complex recipe for a top-of-the-line mummy describes a process that could take 70 days and involved drawing the brain out through the nose with a crooked piece of iron. These primary sources also tell the stories of the people of ancient Egypt: Pepi II, the six-year-old boy king who commanded armies; Ramesses II, whose mortuary temple boasts of his expertise in battle against the Hittites; Queen Hatshepsut, the only woman to rule Egypt as pharaoh; and Cleopatra, who courted Roman statesman Mark Antony as part of her quest to extend the Egyptian empire. The Ancient Egyptian World honors the history of a civilization whose monuments and tombs still capture the imagination of the world thousands of years later. Book jacket.

Author Biography

Jonathan Mark Kenoyer is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He was born and raised in India, speaks several South Asian languages fluently, and has a deep love for the subcontinent. He has a BA in Anthropology from the University of California at Berkeley and completed his MA and PhD in South Asian Archaeology from the same university. His main focus is on the Indus Valley Civilization, but he also has experience with the Palaeolithic period and historical archaeology and ethnoarchaeology. He has conducted archaeological research and excavations at both Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, two of the most important Indus period sites in Pakistan.
Kimberley Heuston writes historical fiction for young adults and teaches English and history at the Waterford School in Sandy, Utah. Raised in New York City, where she attended the Spence School, Ms. Heuston graduated from Harvard University with a degree in History and Science. Her teaching honors include summer fellowships sponsored by the Esther A. and Joseph Klingenstein Fund, the Woodrow Wilson Center, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Fulbright Commission. She received an MFA in Writing for Children from Vermont College in 2000. Her novels include The Shakeress, Dantes Daughter, and The Velvet Years. She is the mother of four completely fabulous children.

Table of Contents

Cast of Characters	p. 9
Map of the Ancient Egyptian World	p. 12
You Rule: The Geography of Egypt	p. 14
The Hymn to the Nile
Inscriptions on the tomb of Harkhuf
Written in Stone: The First King	p. 21
Narmer Palette
Stairway to Heaven: The Old Kingdom	p. 27
Inscriptions at Sehel
Edwin Smith Papyrus
Thank You, Rosetta Stone: Hieroglyphs	p. 34
Clay tablets and pottery from Abydos
Satire of the Trades
Inscription from Wadi Hammamat
The Rosetta Stone
It's a God-Eat-God World: Egyptian Religion	p. 41
Animal remains at Saqqara
Great Abydos Stela
Plutarch
Pyramid Texts
It's a Wrap: Mummies and the Afterlife	p. 50
Pyramid Texts
Book of the Dead
Herodotus
Tomb Builders: The Pyramid Age	p. 57
Tomb graffiti at Giza pyramid complex
Pyramid Texts
Dream Stela
From Monarchy to Anarchy and Back Again: The First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom	p. 64
Admonitions of Ipuwer
Ankhtyfy's tomb inscriptions
Herodotus
Dialogue Between a Man Tired of Life and His Ba
The Tale of Sinuhe
Take Two Mice and Call Me in the Morning: Medicine and Magic	p. 70
Homer
Diodorus Siculus
Herodotus
Ebers Papyrus
Tomb paintings and engravings
Edwin Smith Papyrus
Hands Off: The Second Intermediate Period	p. 75
Manetho
Papyrus Sallier I
Tomb inscriptions of Ahmose
Josephus
A Tale of Two Deities: Hatshepsut and Thutmose III	p. 81
Government records
Hatshepsut's tomb inscriptions
Tomb inscription of an army scribe
Inscriptions at Karnak
In Style Along the Nile: Daily Life	p. 88
Love poems and song lyrics
Ebers Papyrus
Lady Naunakhte
The Tale of a Shipwrecked Sailor
The Story of the Eloquent Peasant
Herodotus
Name that Tomb: Amenhotep III and the Government of Egypt	p. 95
Commemorative scarabs
Tomb inscription from vizier of the First Intermediate Period
Amenemhet's tomb
Diodorus Siculus
Diplomacy Makes Good Fertilizer: Foreign Relations during the New Kingdom	p. 101
Amarna Letters
Tablet from Lachish
Sun Worshipping: The Amarna Period	p. 107
Proverb
Amarna Letters
Homer
The Great Hymn to the Aten
Only Tomb Will Tell: Tutankhamen	p. 115
Howard Carter
Tutankhamen's mummy
Surviving Childhood: Growing Up in Ancient Egypt	p. 122
Strabo
Berlin Papyrus
Delivery sayings
Prophecy
Registration declaration
Scribal advice
Healing spell
Song of the Harpist
War and Peace: Ramesses II and the Battle of Qadesh	p. 128
Ramesses II royal inscriptions
Hittite Egyptian peace treaty
Scratch and Sniff: Village Life	p. 135
Ebers Papyrus
Notes on ostraca at Deir el-Medina
Oath taken in court
Battle Stations: The Sea Peoples	p. 141
Inscription from Ramesses III's mortuary temple
Happily Ever After: The Arts	p. 145
Strabo
King for a Day: Kush, Nubia, and the Third Intermediate Period	p. 150
The Tale of Wenamun
Stela of Piye
Great Expectations: The Greek Period	p. 157
Plutarch
Homer
Arrian
The Last Chapter: Graeco-Roman Rule	p. 164
Letter of Aristeas
Pliny the Elder
Inscription on the Pharos Lighthouse
Plutarch
Shakespeare
Galen
Ptolemy
Timeline	p. 173
Further Reading	p. 176
Websites	p. 182
Index	p. 184
Text Credits	p. 188
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.