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Some Books about Life in Ancient Egypt

Book Review, © Copyright 2001, Jim Loy

Many general books on ancient Egypt tell much about life in Egypt. And you can gain much insight into Egyptian life, just by looking at some of the pictures of agriculture, home life, and religion. There are a few books which are specifically about life in ancient Egypt:

I haven't seen the last one. See Inside an Egyptian Town is a picture book for children, which shows life in Akhetaton, the city of Akhenaton. The other two books have a few pictures and many more words. To give you an idea of the topics covered, here are the chapter headings in Life in Ancient Egypt - by Adolf Erman:

  1. The land of Egypt
  2. The people of Egypt
  3. History of ancient Egypt
  4. The king and his court
  5. Political conditions in Egypt under the Old Empire (Kingdom)
  6. Political conditions in Egypt under the New Empire
  7. The police and the courts of justice
  8. Family life
  9. The house
  10. Dress
  11. Recreation
  12. Religion
  13. The dead
  14. Learning
  15. Literature
  16. The plastic arts (sculpture and painting)
  17. Agriculture
  18. Arts and crafts
  19. Traffic and trade
  20. War

Everyday Life in Ancient Egypt - by Jon Manchip White is quite a bit smaller, and contains these topics:

  1. The Nile valley
  2. Dwelling places
  3. The home
  4. People and professions
  5. Private life

Another book which looks good is Pharaoh's People by T. G. H. James.

To order any of the above books from Amazon.com click on the name of the book (goes directly to this book):

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