About the Author
Toby Wilkinson holds a doctorate in Egyptology from the University of Cambridge where he is a Fellow of Clare College. He lectures widely on ancient Egypt and has extensive experience of the archaeological sites in the Nile Valley and Egyptian deserts. His other publications include Early Dynastic Egypt, Genesis of the Pharaohs and The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Ancient Egypt.
Other titles of interest published by Thames & Hudson include:
The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Ancient Egypt
Chronicle of the Pharaohs:
The Reign-by-Reign Record of the Rulers and Dynasties of Ancient Egypt
The Complete Pyramids
The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt
The Complete Temples of Ancient Egypt
Egyptian Hieroglyphs for Complete Beginners
Mummies: A Journey Through Eternity
Ancient Egypt on Five Deben a Day
The Pharaoh: Life at Court and on Campaign
See our websites
For Emma
Author’s Note
Particular thanks are due to Dr Aidan Dodson, Dr Bill Manley and Peter Grose-Hodge who kindly read earlier drafts of this book and made a number of helpful corrections, comments and suggestions. The author would also like to thank Professor Geoffrey Martin for supplying a key study on the life and career of Maya; Dr David Denisch for material relating to the career of Hesira; the editorial and production staff at Thames & Hudson for their enthusiasm and support; and Michael Bailey, as always, for his patience and understanding.
The intention of this book is to enable the reader to explore and experience the history and civilization of the ancient Nile Valley through the lives of its inhabitants. To maintain the pace and flow of the narrative, and with a general readership in mind, the writing deliberately eschews the caveats that properly characterize academic studies of ancient Egyptian material. It must be acknowledged, however, that our picture of pharaonic civilization is both partial and fragmentary. The lives that follow comprise a mix of established fact, scholarly consensus and educated guesswork – but, we trust, more of the first two and relatively little of the last. Readers interested in finding out more about the individual life-stories, and the debates that continue to surround them, are referred to the suggestions for further reading at the end of the book.
Contents
Introduction
Part 1
Foundations
Early Dynastic Period
1
NARMER
Egypt’s first king
2
MERNEITH
The first woman to hold the reins of power
3
DEN
Reforming ruler of the 1st Dynasty
