Ancient Egypt
The scale of ancient Egyptian history is overwhelming. Americans (North and South) wrestle with the consequences of five hundred years of invasion, conquest, and settlement. Europeans argue over what delineates different phases of their history (modern, the rise of the nation-state, phases of the Renaissance, medieval, post-Roman, and so on). Well, that gets you back only 1500 years. Classicists pride their discipline on another thousand years. Egyptians look on, bemused. They go back 6000 years without breathing hard. Ancient Egypt (a deep and long category, obviously) represents a civilization that still fascinates us. Think pharaohs, pyramids, mummies, hieroglyphs, the Sphinx, the Nile, "King Tut." Children and adults love such stuff. I debated with myself whether to be a purist on Ancient Egypt and end my listings with Alexander the Great's conquest and the great era of the Ptolemaic dynasty, but you would miss so much in those 275 years leading up to the pragmatic and unimaginative Romans building their empire on Egyptian grain. I wanted to include the Pharos lighthouse, Alexandria and its library, Cleopatra. So I did, and I will. This page, these offerings, like the rest of Whistlestop, will be carefully curated and vetted and supplemented as I find and list interesting items.
Ancient Egyptian Art and Architecture: A Very Short Introduction
Ancient Egyptian Art and Architecture: A Very Short Introduction
- Examines what we consider to be both 'ancient' and 'Egyptian'
- Organized by theme to introduce the big ideas in Egyptian art
- Looks at how pieces of art can tell us much about historical power and the dynamics of society
- Considers how European and Western ideas about ancient Egyptian art have changed over time
- Considers the contemporary relevance of ancient Egyptian art and architecture today
- Explores the visual themes that appear in ancient Egyptian art
- Part of the bestselling Very Short Introductionsseries - millions of copies sold worldwide