Search results for ""Author Joyce Tyldesley""

She was the last ruler of the Macedonian dynasty of Ptolemies who had ruled Egypt for three centuries. Highly educated (she was the only one of the Ptolemies to read and speak ancient Egyptian as well as the court Greek) and very clever (her famous liaisons with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony were as much to do with politics as the heart), she steered her kingdom through impossibly taxing internal problems and railed against greedy Roman imperialism. Stripping away preconceptions as old as her Roman enemies, Joyce Tyldesley uses all her skills as an Egyptologist to give us this magnificent biography.

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Pharaoh.Icon.Enigma.Lost for three thousand years, misunderstood for a century.A hundred years ago, a team of archaeologists in the Valley of the Kings made a remarkable discovery: a near-complete royal burial, an ancient mummy, and golden riches beyond imagination. The lost tomb of Tutankhamun ignited a media frenzy, propelled into overdrive by rumours of a deadly ancient curse. But amid the hysteria, many stories - including that of Tutankhamun himself - were distorted or forgotten.Tutankhamun: Pharaoh, Icon, Enigma takes a familiar tale and turns on its head. Leading Egyptologist Joyce Tyldesley has gathered ten unique perspectives together for the first time, including that of the teenage pharaoh and his family, ancient embalmers and tomb robbers, famous Western explorers and forgotten Egyptian archaeologists. It's a journey that spans from ancient Thebes in 1336 BCE, when a young king on a mission to restore his land met an unexpected and violent end, to modern Luxor in 1922 CE when the tomb's discovery led to a fight over ownership that continues to this day.Above all, this is the story of Tutankhamun, as he would have wanted to be remembered. Piecing together three thousand years of evidence and unpicking the misunderstandings that surround Egypt's most famous king, this book offers a vital reappraisal on his life, death and enduring legacy.

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In ancient Egypt women enjoyed a legal, social and sexual independence unrivalled by their Greek or Roman sisters, or in fact by most women until the late nineteenth century. They could own and trade in property, work outside the home, marry foreigners and live alone without the protection of a male guardian. Some of them even rose to rule Egypt as ‘female kings’. Joyce Tyldesley’s vivid history of how women lived in ancient Egypt weaves a fascinating picture of daily life – marriage and the home, work and play, grooming and religion – viewed from a female perspective, in a work that is engaging, original and constantly surprising.

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More than three thousand years ago a sculptor working in the royal city of Amarna carved a limestone bust of an Egyptian queen. The queen was Nefertiti, consort of the 'heretic pharaoh' Akhenaten. Plastered and painted, Nefertiti's bust depicted an extraordinarily beautiful woman. However, Akhenaten's reign was drawing to an end, and the royal family was soon to be written out of Egypt's official history. Not long after its creation the stone Nefertiti was locked in a storeroom and forgotten. In 1912 the bust was re-discovered and transported to Germany. Initially hidden from the public view, the beautiful queen was eventually displayed in Berlin Museum. Instantly, she became an ancient world celebrity. Egypt has yielded more than its fair share of artistic masterpieces, but no other sculpture has so successfully bridged the gap between the ancient and modern worlds. The timeless beauty of the Nefertiti bust both attracts us and sparks our imagination, but in so doing it obscures our view of the past, shifting attention not only from the other members of the Amarna court, but also from other, equally valid, representations of Nefertiti herself. In this book Joyce Tyldesley explores the creation of a cultural icon, from its ancient origins to its modern context: its discovery, its display, and its dual role as a political pawn and artistic inspiration.

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Pharaoh.Icon.Enigma.Lost for three thousand years, misunderstood for a century.A hundred years ago, a team of archaeologists in the Valley of the Kings made a remarkable discovery: a near-complete royal burial, an ancient mummy, and golden riches beyond imagination. The lost tomb of Tutankhamun ignited a media frenzy, propelled into overdrive by rumours of a deadly ancient curse. But amid the hysteria, many stories - including that of Tutankhamun himself - were distorted or forgotten.Tutankhamun: Pharaoh, Icon, Enigma takes a familiar tale and turns on its head. Leading Egyptologist Joyce Tyldesley has gathered ten unique perspectives together for the first time, including that of the teenage pharaoh and his family, ancient embalmers and tomb robbers, famous Western explorers and forgotten Egyptian archaeologists. It's a journey that spans from ancient Thebes in 1336 BCE, when a young king on a mission to restore his land met an unexpected and violent end, to modern Luxor in 1922 CE when the tomb's discovery led to a fight over ownership that continues to this day.Above all, this is the story of Tutankhamun, as he would have wanted to be remembered. Piecing together three thousand years of evidence and unpicking the misunderstandings that surround Egypt's most famous king, this book offers a vital reappraisal on his life, death and enduring legacy.

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The extraordinary mysteries of the pyramids - revealedFrom the development of monumental architecture around 3,000 BC to the fabulous edifices that rose up from the desert plains of Giza, these are amongst the most remarkable structures in world history.Their story has given rise to a set of incredible legends: spaceships, ley lines, mysterious goings on… Is it fact or fiction? Joyce Tyldesley, writer, lecturer and broadcaster on Ancient Egypt, cuts away modern myth and prejudice to reveal the truth behind these astonishing structures.The Old Kingdom pharaohs believed that death was the beginning of eternal life. To help them on their way they built pyramids; huge ramps or stairways charged with the most potent magic, leading directly to the sky.Pyramids chronicles how and why Egypt’s pharaohs built on so grand a scale, and shows how the pyramids helped to build Egypt itself.‘A fascinating survey… For anyone who wants to know about pyramids, this is required reading’ Spectator‘Tyldesley sets out to fill the gap between Egyptologists’ reserve, the excesses of tour guides and misinformed traditions… [she] should be required reading.’ Sunday Times

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'This readable anthology is a good introduction to a civilization that fascinates like few others ... in this book there are animals who talk, princesses who are locked up at the top of towers, wicked stepmothers and many other themes ... An enjoyable book by a skilled author' Financial TimesThe civilization we know as Ancient Egypt stretched over three thousand years. What was life like for ancient Egyptians? What were their beliefs - and how different were they from ours? Myths and Legends of Ancient Egypt uses Egypt's vivid narratives to create a panorama of its history, from the earliest settlers to the time of Cleopatra.Gathered from pyramid texts, archaeological finds and contemporary documents, these stories cover everything from why the Nile flooded annually to Egyptian beliefs about childbirth and what happened after death. They show us what life was really like for rich and poor, man and woman, farmer and pharaoh.Myths and Legends of Ancient Egypt brings a long-dead culture back to life.

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