The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt

The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt is the only up-to-date, single-volume history of ancient Egypt available in English. The accessible essays and attractive illustrations portray the emergence and development of the distinctive civilization of the ancient Egyptians, from their prehistoric origins to their incorporation into the Roman Empire, covering the period from c. 700,000 BC to AD 311. The authors - all experts working at the cutting edge of their particular fields - outline the principal sequence of political events, including detailed examinations of the three so-called 'intermediate periods' which were previously regarded as 'dark ages' and are only now beginning to be better understood. Against the backdrop of the rise and fall of ruling dynasties, this Oxford History also examines cultural and social patterns, including stylistic developments in art and literature. The pace of change in such aspects of Egyptian culture as monumental architecture, funerary beliefs, and ethnicity was not necessarily tied to the rate of political change. Each of the authors of this history has therefore set out to elucidate, in both words and pictures, the underlying patterns of social and political change and to describe the changing face of ancient Egypt, from the biographical details of individuals to the social and economic factors that shaped the lives of the population as a whole.

Ian Shaw studied Archaeology and Egyptology at Cambridge University, gaining a PhD on the archaeological remains at Tell el-Amarna. He later undertook research into Egyptian quarrying and mining sites as a British Academy Research Fellow at New Hall, Cambridge. His other publications include Ancient Egyptian Warfare and Weapons (1992), The British Museum Dictionary of Ancient Egypt (1995), The Dictionary of Archaeology (1999), and Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology (2000)

- List of Plates; List of Maps; Acknowledgements - Introduction - Prehistory: Palaeolithic and Neolithic - Predynastic Period - Late Predynastic and Early Dynastic - The Rise of Eqyptian Civilization - The Old Kingdom - The First Intermediate Period - The Middle Kingdom - The Second Intermediate Period - The New Kingdom: Pre-Amarna - The New Kingdom: Amarna and Post-Amarna - Egypt and the Outside World - The Third Intermediate Period - The Late Period - The Ptolemaic Period - The Roman Period - Further Reading; Chronological Tables; Acknowledgement of Sources; Index