African history: pre-colonial Books
Peeters Publishers Egypt in the First Millennium AD: Perspectives
Book SynopsisThis volume contains the proceedings of the twenty-first annual British Museum Egyptology Colloquium, which was the first in the series dedicated to post-pharaonic Egypt. The volume investigates continuity and change in the archaeological record in the First Millennium AD, focusing on the transitions to and from Late Antiquity (AD 250-800), when Egypt's population became Christian and, later, Islam was introduced. The fourteen contributors, representing the overlapping disciplines of Egyptology, Archaeology and Art History with specialisations in the pharaonic, Roman and Late Antique periods, present the results of new archaeological research at a range of sites currently under investigation. Seeking to identify trends and compare results, the volume is organised according to four major themes: 1) settlements, 2) cemeteries, 3) settling rock-cut tombs and quarries and 4) temple-church-mosque. Many of the contributions address adaptive reuse of earlier architecture, the recycling of earlier monuments as building material (i.e. spolia), or both. Traditionally neglected by modern scholars in favour of other periods in Egypt's long history, the study of First Millennium AD archaeology offers increasingly better opportunities to evaluate both Egypt's distinctiveness and its role within the wider Mediterranean region.
£114.00
Peeters Publishers Graeco-Roman Archives from the Fayum
Book SynopsisThe Fayum is a large depression in the western desert of Egypt, receiving its water directly from the Nile. In the early Ptolemaic period the agricultural area expanded a great deal, new villages were founded and many Greeks settled here. When villages on the outskirts were abandoned about AD 300-400, houses and cemeteries remained intact for centuries. Here were found thousands of papyri, ostraca (potsherds) and hundreds of mummy portraits, which have made the area famous among classicists and art historians alike. Most papyri and ostraca are now scattered over collections all over the world. The sixth volume of Collectanea Hellenistica presents 145 reconstructed archives originating from this region, including private, professional, official and temple archives both in Greek and in native Demotic.
£105.00
Peeters Publishers Egypt and Syria in the Fatimid, Ayyubid and
Book SynopsisThe eighth volume of proceedings of the International Colloquia on the History of Egypt and Syria in the Fatimid, Ayyubid and Mamluk Eras covers the 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd gatherings, organized at Ghent University in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. True to tradition, the 27 articles deal with a wide variety of scholarly subjects, all revolving around the central theme of Syro-Egypt's high and late medieval history. Topics dealt with include archaeology, architecture, codicology, economic, political, and religious history, as well as belles-lettres. With contributions by P.-V. Claverie, N. Coureas, J.-Ch. Ducène, H. Hanisch, D. Igarashi, G. Lelli, Y. Lev, P. Moukarzel, D. Nicolle, C. Onimus, M. Piana, S. Pradines, B. Shoshan, N. Vanthieghem, Th.M. Wijntjes, J. Yeshaya, K. Yosef and M. Zouihal.
£114.00
Peeters Publishers From Alexander to the Theoi Adelphoi: Foundation
Book SynopsisThis book explores the rise of the concept of dynastic continuity in the Ptolemaic kingdom from political, cultural and sociological perspectives, focusing on the first century of Macedonian rule in Egypt, from Alexander's conquest to the early years of Ptolemy III. A chronological and thematic discussion leads the reader from the success of charismatic leadership in the age of the Diadochs to the establishment of a more durable system of the practice and representation of power during the third century. The analysis focuses on actors involved in the processes of negotiation of Ptolemaic power as well as on the way they interacted by adapting ideological themes to different media and socio-cultural contexts. The main topics discussed include: the interaction between royal and non-royal initiatives in the representation of legitimacy and dynastic continuity; royal apparatus and its reception in mass events; the relations between human power and the divine; the combination of historical events and mythic patterns for the creation of an intentional history of the new dynasty; the historical development of the tradition concerning Alexander and the first Ptolemies, with a focus on the survival and reconfiguration of ideological themes in post-Ptolemaic Alexandria.
£94.00
Peeters Publishers The Birdcage of the Muses: Patronage of the Arts
Book SynopsisIn the third century BCE, the Ptolemaic imperial court at Alexandria was the unchallenged center of culture and learning in the Hellenistic world. Backed by the vast wealth and prestige of the Ptolemies, the city of Alexandria became the symbolic capital of the world, the main hub of a dynamic imperial network that stretched from the Indian Ocean to the Black Sea. Many poets, philosophers, inventors, geographers, and other men of letters migrated to that center to enjoy the generous patronage of the Ptolemies. The Birdcage of the Muses is the first book-length historical study of the golden age of Ptolemaic cultural and scientific patronage. Working from new approaches to premodern imperialism, Rolf Strootman reconsiders the significance of Hellenistic court poetry from the perspective of current empire studies and the sociological study of the court, arguing that artistic, scholarly and scientific production contributed to processes of elite integration in the heterogeneous imperial world system controlled by the Ptolemies. Rejecting the modernist view that poets, scholars and technicians were autonomous outsiders to court society, the author is able to place these men in the social milieu of the court, showing how their professional behavior was ruled by the same mechanisms of gift exchange, etiquette and competition that determined court society as a whole. The Hellenistic Age was a period of intensified globalization, and it was through the royal court that writers and scientists were able to gain access to the extensive elite networks that connected communities throughout the Mediterranean and beyond. Literary authors in particular contributed themselves to the growth of interconnectivity by creating a common 'Hellenistic' imperial culture and language, and through the expression of imperial themes, notably the idea that the civilized world was, or ought to be, a single oikoumene of which Alexandria was the glorious, magnetic heart.
£74.00
Peeters Publishers Egypt at its Origins 4: Proceedings of the Fourth
Book SynopsisThis volume, publishing the proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt (New York, 2011), presents the results of the latest research and discoveries in the field which are leading to a better understanding of the origins of the Ancient Egyptian civilization. The 31 articles are organised under three major headings: Tell el-Farkha and Lower Egyptian Sites; Abydos, Hierakonpolis and Upper Egyptian Sites; Objects and Iconography. Each contribution provides new insights into the variety of factors contributing to the rise of the distinct form of the early Egyptian state. Recent discoveries from major sites such as Hierakonpolis, Abydos, and Tell el Farkha, are the subject of different articles, but also other sites, such as Abu Rawash and the area of the First Cataract, are discussed.
£110.00
Peeters Publishers Civil Calender and Lunar Calendar in Ancient
Book SynopsisThis investigation is concerned with ancient Egyptian calendars. Its specific focus is one of the oldest problems of the study of these calendars: the so-called problem of the month names. This work's main purpose is to suggest an explanation for the Brugsch phenomenon. The Brugsch phenomenon is one of the two main aspects of the problem of the month names. The other is the Gardiner phenomenon. No new theory is presented for the Gardiner phenomenon. As a problem, the Brugsch phenomenon is slightly older than the Gardiner Phenomenon. It has occupied center stage in the study of ancient Egyptian calendars since the early days of this endeavor. In 1870, Heinrich Brugsch, the great pioneer in this subject, wrote about the phenomenon, "Here we encounter all at once the most curious contradiction." Just recently, Rolf Krauss has described the contradiction as still "unsolved". The Brugsch phenomenon concerns the indisputable fact that the last or twelfth month of the Egyptian civil year can be named as if it were the first. Two month names are involved. The first is wp rnpt. Its meaning "opener of the year," refers to a beginning. The second month name is mswt r' "birth of Re" in hieroglyphic Egyptian, Mesore in Aramaic, Greek and Coptic. Both can otherwise also refer to New Year's Day, the quintessential calendrical beginning.
£70.43
The American University in Cairo Press Ancient Nubia: African Kingdoms on the Nile
Book SynopsisGloriously illustrated and impressive in scope, this book represents a comprehensive overview of ancient Nubia. It opens with a thematic survey with contributors addressing topics such as the rediscovery of ancient Nubia and the development of archaeological work there, including the widespread destruction in the wake of the construction of the Aswan and Merowe dam, its physical geography, and historical outline. There follow chronological reviews of Nubia's art and architecture, chapters on cultural aspects such as religion, burial practices, texts, daily life, costume and pottery. The second half of the book consists of a gazetteer of sites, following the course of the Nile from North to South: descriptions of the archaeology are accompanied by plentiful plans and photos as well as notes on the history of their excavation.
£45.00
The American University in Cairo Press Mrs Tsenhor: A Female Entrepreneur in Ancient
Book SynopsisTsenhor was born about 550 bce in the city of Thebes (Karnak). She died some sixty years later, having lived through the reigns of Amasis II, Psamtik III, Cambyses II, Darius I and perhaps even Psamtik IV. By carefully retracing the events of her life as they are recorded in papyri now kept in museums in London, Paris, Turin, and Vienna, the author creates the image of a proud and independent businesswoman who made her own decisions in life. If Tsenhor were alive today she would be wearing jeans, drive a pick-up, and enjoy a beer with the boys. She clearly was her own boss, and one assumes that this happened with the full support of her second husband Psenese, who fathered two of her children. She married him when she was in her mid-thirties. Like her father and husband, Tsenhor could be hired to bring offerings to the dead in the necropolis on the west bank of the Nile. For a fee of course, and that is how her family acquired high-quality farm land on more than one occasion. But Tsenhor also did other business on her own, such as buying a slave and co-financing the reconstruction of a house that she owned together with Psenese. She seems in many ways to have been a liberated woman, some 2,500 years before the concept was invented.Embedded in the history of the first Persian occupation of Egypt, and using many sources dealing with ordinary women from the Old Kingdom up to and including the Coptic era, this book aims to forever change the general view on women in ancient Egypt, which is far too often based on the lives of Nefertiti, Hatshepsut, and Cleopatra.Table of ContentsChronology1. PeopleThe family- Mummies as a source of income- Did the choachytes keep mummies at home?- The Persian administration- An outpost at Elephantine2. Earth & Water: Nesmin 556 BCEHow Tsenhor got her name- What happened to the rest?- The god’s father Petosiris son of Wenamun- A tomb in the Assasif3. Love & Death: Psenese, Tsenhor, Ruru & Peteamunhotep 530-517 BCEDividing an inheritance- Mad king or just a bad hair day?- Wedjahorresne: a smart career moveA pregnant widow- A woman with a mind of her own- Why not simply adopt your wife?The proud father- How many visits to the temple of Montu?- The order of the witness listA very fortunate baby daughter- A 4500 year old contract- The law of Pharaoh4. Slave: Tsenhor 517 BCETwo owners within a month- Women owning slavesA profitable start of the new year- To you belongs their fate5. Bricks: Tsenhor, Psenese & Nesamunhotep 512-506 BCEThe tomb of Osorkon- The good houseExpanding the family business- Who owns what?- The right of wayDividing dad’s house- Did Nesmin make a will?- Inheriting a house in Coptic Djeme6. Cattle: Burekhef & Ituru 507-487 BCEWas there a Rent a Cow in Thebes?- The collection of Bernardino DrovettiA cow branded with the milk can- 401 little workers7. Love & Death: Tsenhor, Psenese, Ituru & Ruru 498-494 BCEPsenese becomes ill- The days on which Tsenhor did not workClosing the account- When old age sets in- Who gets mum’s library?8. Earth & Water: Tsenhor, Ruru & Nesamunhotep 497-491 BCERuru takes over- The hidden treasures of the Louvre- The missing Tsenhor papyriThe bread of the choachyte
£16.14
The American University in Cairo Press Crowds and Sultans: Urban Protest in Late
Book SynopsisDuring the fifteenth century, the Mamluk sultanate that had ruled Egypt and Syria since 1249-50 faced a series of sustained economic and political challenges to its rule, from the effects of recurrent plagues to changes in international trade routes. Both these challenges and the policies and behaviors of rulers and subjects in response to them left profound impressions on Mamluk state and society, precipitating a degree of social mobility and resulting in new forms of cultural expression. These transformations were also reflected in the frequent reports of protests during this period, and led to a greater diffusion of power and the opening up of spaces for political participation by Mamluk subjects and negotiations of power between ruler and ruled. Rather than tell the story of this tumultuous century solely from the point of view of the Mamluk dynasty, Crowds and Sultans places the protests within the framework of long-term transformations, arguing for a more nuanced and comprehensive narrative of Mamluk state and society in late medieval Egypt and Syria. Reports of urban protest and the ways in which alliances between different groups in Mamluk society were forged allow us glimpses into how some medieval Arab societies negotiated power, showing that rather than stoically endure autocratic governments, populations often resisted and renegotiated their positions in response to threats to their interests. This rich and thought-provoking study will appeal to specialists in Mamluk history, Islamic studies, and Arab history, as well as to students and scholars of Middle East politics and government and modern history.
£31.50
The American University in Cairo Press Wonderful Things: A History of Egyptology: 3:
Book SynopsisThe discovery of ancient Egypt and the development of Egyptology are momentous events in intellectual and cultural history. The history of Egyptology is the story of the people, famous and obscure, who constructed the picture of ancient Egypt that we have today, recovered the Egyptian past while inventing it anew, and made a lost civilization comprehensible to generations of enchanted readers and viewers thousands of years later. This, the third of a three-volume history of Egyptology, follows the progress of the discipline from the trauma of the First World War, through the vicissitudes of the twentieth century, and into Egyptology's new horizons at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Wonderful Things affirms that the history of ancient Egypt has proved continually fascinating, but it also demonstrates that the history of Egyptology is no less so. Only by understanding how Egyptology has developed can we truly understand the Egyptian past.Trade ReviewThe coverage of Egyptology and its struggles to survive during the two great wars, particularly the catastrophic losses in the Great War, are a valuable insight ... Without question, this book is a major contribution to the study of Egyptology and will long remain so, for both practising Egyptologists and lay aficionados. * Ancient Egypt *This remarkable three-volume tour de force fittingly ends on Egyptology in Egypt: new museums and the long anticipated opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum. Thompson rightly notes GEM as its ‘happy acronym’. This volume is likewise a gem. * Egyptian Archaeology *Jason Thompson has written what is by far the best history of Egyptology yet. Filled with fascinating facts and characters, Thompson's book is comprehensive and eminently readable and certain to become the standard history of the field for many years to come. * Kent Weeks *“Thompson’s account demonstrates the multiple array of events, personalities, political developments and intellectual inclinations that contributed to shaping the field of Egyptology as it emerged as a self-conscious discipline. Moving beyond the familiar recounting of great discoveries in Egypt, . . . Wonderful Things seeks to demonstrate the power and complexities of Egyptological activities in fashioning the story of ancient Egypt. We learn much about the less acknowledged characters in the narratives of Egyptology, appreciating the different types of contributions individuals made beyond the practices of ‘digging and writing’. The new insights Thompson provides on those who simply ‘made things happen’ is not only fascinating but serves as an extremely valuable contribution to the evaluation of Egyptology’s legacy. This is an incisive anatomy of a discipline that challenges our all too familiar assumptions about how Egyptology came to be.” -- Stephanie MoserWonderful Things: A History of Egyptology: From Antiquity to 1881 is an excellent first installment on something the field has long been lacking--a comprehensive history of Egyptology. After surveying the Greeks and Romans, medieval writers, and the European scholars and travelers of the Renaissance and Enlightenment, Jason Thompson hits full stride with the nineteenth-century. The French expedition and Champollion’s decipherment gave birth to modern Egyptology, and this is the century in which Thompson—the author of definititve biographies of Egyptologists and Orientalists Gardiner Wilkinson and Edward William Lane—feels most fully at home. After the Description de l’Égypte and Champollion come Richard Lepsius, Heinrich Brugsch, Samuel Birch, and Auguste Mariette. All the great figures and landmarks are there, and many lesser ones as well. Both scholars and general readers will eagerly anticipate the second and third volumes to carry the story down to the present. -- Donald M. Reid"This well-researched and authoritative account of the history of Egyptology will become the definitive reference tool for anyone interested in the development of this academic discipline. In this first volume of his study, the author has delved deep into the surviving archives to undercover the growth of Egyptology from antique times until the astonishing success of Mariette. Unlike previous works which only dealt with the highlights of Egyptian archaeology, he covers both the academic and archaeological aspects of the subject and shines a light on many unsung heroes of Egyptology who had been edged out of the limelight by the more well known. When completed, this study will form a lasting memorial to the men and women who in their various ways rescued the past of Egypt. -- Morris Bierbrier“[Wonderful Things] is a remarkable achievement: a scholarly work packed with facts but one which is also genuinely readable. It is ambitious in its scope and detail. To follow the growth of an arcane but also a highly romantic branch of learning becomes in Thompson’s book something close to an adventure. The author successfully convey his infectious enthusiasm for the subject but writes with a degree of detachment that allows him to be refreshingly and occasionally almost ruthlessly trenchant and critical.” * from the Foreword by Jaromir Malek *At last a definitive history, which does justice not only to the major players but to lesser lights as well. Wonderful Things will be immensely valuable. -- Brian Fagan, author of The Rape of the NileRemarkably thorough and yet refreshingly readable, this action-packed history of Egyptology is driven by some extraordinary characters—mostly men but some notable women—who needed to learn everything they could about the culture, land, and language of ancient Egypt. As much a study of European colonialism in Egypt as a historiography of seventeenth- to nineteenth-century scholarship, this volume [1] is an absolute necessity for anybody with an interest in pharaonic Egypt. -- Kara CooneyTable of ContentsChronological Outline of Ancient Egyptian History Maps Preface Acknowledgments 1. Egyptology and the Great War 2. Resuming the Field 3. Wonderful Things 4. The Pharaoh’s Curse 5. Winds of Change 6. George A. Reisner and His Colleagues at Giza 7. Farther South: Nubia and Sudan 8. New Dimensions in Prehistory 9. Inter-War: The Library 10. Years of Uncertainty 11. Nazi Egyptology and the Second World War 12. An Egyptological Intermediate Period 13. Nubian Rescue: The Temples 14. Nubian Rescue: The Archaeology 15. Resuming the Field—Again: Saqqara and Lower Egypt 16: Resuming the Field—Again: Upper Egypt and Beyond 17. Language and Art 18. Writing Ancient Egyptian History 19. Women in Egyptology 20. Points of Departure Notes Bibliography Index
£33.25
The American University in Cairo Press Living Forever: Self-presentation in Ancient
Book SynopsisSelf-presentation is the oldest and most common component of ancient Egyptian high culture. It arose in the context of private tomb records, where the character and role of an individual—invariably a well-to-do non-royal elite official or administrator—were presented purposefully: published by inscription and image, to a contemporary audience and to posterity. Living Forever: Self-presentation in Ancient Egypt looks at how and why non-royal elites in ancient Egypt represented themselves, through language and art, on monuments, tombs, stelae, and statues, and in literary texts, from the Early Dynastic Period to the Thirtieth Dynasty. Bringing together essays by international Egyptologists and archaeologists from a range of backgrounds, the chapters in this volume offer fresh insight into the form, content, and purpose of ancient Egyptian presentations of the self. Applying different approaches and disciplines, they explore how these self-representations, which encapsulated a discourse with gods and men alike, yield rich historical and sociological information, provide examples of ancient rhetorical devices and repertoire, and shed light on notions of the self and collective memory in ancient Egypt.Trade Review"Coherent analysis. . . . Advanced students and scholars will delight in exploring these representations, which are often humorous and clever, and provide readers with a deeper understanding of the culture, values, and sociopolitical context of ancient Egypt. Highly Recommended" —CHOICETable of ContentsMaps Figures Plates Tables Notes on Contributors Foreword James P. Allen Acknowledgments Hussein Bassir Preface Hussein Bassir Note on Transliteration and Dates Chronology Abbreviations Introduction: Self-Presentation Dynamics and Strategies Christopher Eyre 1. Self-Presentation in the Early Dynasties (1–3) Juan Carlos Moreno García 2. Self-Presentation in the Late Old Kingdom (Dynasties 5–6) Hana Vymazalová 3. Self-Presentation in the Eleventh Dynasty Renata Landgrafova 4. Self-Presentation in the Twelfth Dynasty Ronald Leprohon 5. Self-Presentation in the Second Intermediate Period R. Gareth Roberts 6. Self-Presentation in the Eighteen Dynasty: The Egyptian Self in Dynasty 18 – Ethics of 7. Self-Presentation in the Ramesside Period Colleen Manassa Darnell 8. Self-Presentation in the Third Intermediate Period (Dynasties 21–24) Roberto B. Gozzoli 9. “My Lord Who Came from the South”: Self-Presentation in the Kushite Period (Dynasty 25) Jeremy Pope 10. Self-Presentation of Women from the Middle of the Fourth to the End of the First Centuries B.C. Maxim Panov 11. Conclusion: Ruling Themes of Egyptian Self-Presentational Traditions over the Millennia Hussein Bassir Index
£44.99
The American University in Cairo Press The Secrets of the Sphinx: Restoration Past and
Book SynopsisThis lavishly illustrated, bilingual English and Arabic volume tells the story of the Sphinx from ancient times to the present, focusing particularly on the task—first addressed in the second millenium BC—of preserving it. Published to mark the completion of a major modern restoration project, the book is an invaluable and fascinating document, a testimony not only to the skills of the people who built the Sphinx, but to those who have maintained and renewed it down the ages.
£13.89
Aset Ka Asetian Bible
£35.84
