Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a CivilizationPsychology Press, 2006 - 437 pages Completely revised and updated to reflect the latest developments in the field, this second edition of Barry J. Kemp's popular text presents a compelling reassessment of what gave ancient Egypt its distinctive and enduring characteristics. Ranging across Ancient Egyptian material culture, social and economic experiences, and the mindset of its people, the book also includes two new chapters exploring the last ten centuries of Ancient Egyptian civilization and who, in ethnic terms, the ancients were. Fully illustrated, the book draws on both ancient written materials and decades of excavation evidence, transforming our understanding of this remarkable civilization. Broad ranging yet impressively detailed, Kemp's work is an indispensable text for all students of Ancient Egypt. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 77
... of the ancient Egyptian state and its wealth of devices - myth , symbol and institution to manipulate minds and to direct the lives of its people are at the centre of this book . By these means the lives and views of a whole 2 Introduction.
... whole population are reduced to a singular- ity . This serves as a great convenience to all , including ourselves when looking at ancient Egypt . In treating them as a bloc we can say ' the ancient Egyptians did this ' , or we can move ...
... whole and might , for a brief time , drive it in a new direction or beyond its previous boundaries . But the system remains , albeit in an altered state , preserved through memory and cultural tradition . Fam- ilies are only one kind of ...
... whole ? To have an adequate working model , constantly updated , ought to be hugely useful to social scientists , to politicians and to people who sell things . But think of what one would need : sample populations whose lives would be ...
... whole since the Neolithic is the conscious search for improved systems , and their simultaneous or sub- sequent compromise and even rejection . People are forever seeking to wreck and dismantle what others have built up or even what ...
Contents
Who were the ancient Egyptians? | 19 |
The intellectual foundations of the early state | 60 |
The dynamics of culture | 111 |
The provider state | 161 |
The bureaucratic mind | 163 |
Model communities | 193 |
Intimations of our future | 245 |