Online Activities: Ancient Egypt
A Brief Bibliography for Pyramids
By Gayle Gibson
Pyramids are the most enduring monuments that mankind has built. They are endlessly fascinating. Many good books on pyramids are widely available. This bibliography discusses most of the books that can be found in libraries or purchased from good bookstores. The notes on each book are intended to help you to choose which books suit your needs best. If you can only afford one book, this is the one to buy!
The Complete Pyramids: Solving the Ancient Mysteries
By Mark Lehner
Mark Lehner has been working at Giza since 1979, since 1984 as Director of the Giza Plateau Mapping Project. He writes clearly, and has the benefit of the most recent research. This book covers all the currently known pyramids of Egypt, and gives six pages to the pyramids of Sudan. The book begins with an overview of Egyptian religious beliefs (the why of pyramid building), and proceeds to early accounts of pyramids by Greeks and Romans, Copts and Arabs, goes on to describe the first European explorers, and continues with accounts of the more famous expeditions, current explorations and recent discoveries.
Construction techniques are described, and the evidence for various methods is carefully considered. Lehner discusses methods of quarrying and transporting stone and other supplies to the sites of pyramids. The towns for those working on the pyramids are also described.
London: Thames and Hudson, 1997. 556 illustrations, 83 in colour. 256 pages, with index.
Building in Egypt: Pharaonic Stone Masonry
By Dieter Arnold
Not specifically about pyramids, this excellent book is nevertheless very useful for those interested in their construction. Arnold discusses the evidence for quarrying techniques, the locations of quarries, and the types of stones used, the tools and working methods of Egyptian architects and masons, the construction of pavements as foundations for pyramids, and the actual methods of laying the blocks of stone in various pyramids. This book is indispensable for those wishing to really understand the how of pyramid building. Profusely illustrated with black and white photographs and line drawings.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. 316 pages with index.
The Pyramid Builders of Ancient Egypt: A Modern Investigation of Pharaoh's Workforce
By Rosalie David
Dr. David's book is a fine antidote for those who would see pyramids built by Space Aliens or amazing ‘advanced machines' or perhaps telepathy. She describes the remains of two towns built to house workers at the Middle Kingdom pyramids of Kahun and Lahun in the Faiyum. Each town had a district of big houses for the rich and powerful, and another of much smaller houses for those who worked on the pyramids.
A great variety of artifacts, many now in the Manchester Museum, were discovered in the remains of these houses; furniture, toys, articles for personal adornment, tools and religious objects. Dr. David provides information on religious and legal practices as well, and compares the villagers of these towns to those of the better known worker-villages of Deir el Medina and Amarna.
There is less material on the actual pyramids, and on their construction, though these topics are not totally neglected. Dr. David was interested in the men who built the pyramids, and more concerned with what they had for lunch (dates, fish, melons, nuts, and, presumably, bread and beer) than with the stones they hauled.
London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1986.
The Pyramids of Egypt
By I.E.S. Edwards
Dr. Edwards began with an overview of Egyptian history and religion, and then described the development of burial customs in Egypt, mastabas, step pyramids, and the development of the true pyramid. Old and Middle Kingdom pyramids are described, as well as the later Sudanese pyramids. Methods of construction are considered. The revised bibliographies for each chapter are very useful.
New York and London: Viking Penguin, 1985. This is a revised version of Edwards' 1947 classic. 21 colour plates, 63 black and white, and sixty line drawings; 328 pages, with index.
The Pyramids
By Ahmed Fakhry
This is a clearly written account of explorations, chiefly of Old Kingdom pyramids, with some attention to Middle Kingdom and Sudanese pyramids. A notable feature is the consideration given to the unfinished pyramids at Zawiet el Aryan and other places. There is a particularly valuable account of Sekhemkhet's unfinished pyramid at Saqqara and the work of the late Mohammed Zakaria Ghoneim at that site. Though not up to date, this is still a valuable book, and is readily available in reprints.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1961. 260 pages with index, 124 black and white illustrations and line drawings.
Pyramid
By David Macaulay
This excellent book has a PBS Video companion which is also highly recommended. Macaulay takes us though all the steps of building an unnamed, ‘generic' pyramid which draws on aspects of the buildings of Khufu and Sahure. Fine drawings give one a sense of the human scale of the work involved. Macaulay begins with the choice of a site and the sighting of the stars to accurately orient the pyramid, and continues through the construction of the pyramid and valley temple, to the royal funeral. A small glossary is included. A splendid beginning book for older children.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1975. Large format paperback; 80 pages; graceful, informative, reasonable black and white drawings by Macaulay.
The Riddle of the Pyramids
By Kurt Mendelssohn
Mendelssohn, a physicist, was interested in construction methods, and examined Egyptian and Mexican pyramids from an engineering point of view. Though some of his theories have been disproven, the book, still in print, and readily available, is worth reading for its clear exploration of the physical problems in constructing a pyramid.
New York: Holt, Rinehart, Winston, 1974. 224 pages with index, illustrated with black and white plates and many line drawings.
Guide to the Pyramids of Egypt
By Alberto Siliotti
A beautiful gift book, this volume also contains a great deal of useful up-to-date information. It is clearly organized and easy to use for reference or pleasure reading. The preponderance of image over text can be disappointing if one is seeking specific information about a particular pyramid, but the books does provide an excellent introduction to the pyramids, and could in fact be used as a mildly unwieldy guide book on a visit to Egypt.
New York: Barnes and Noble, 1997. 168 pages without index, but with a detailed table of contents; profusely illustrated with superb colour photos, line drawings and maps. Preface by Zahi Hawass.
Egypt: From Prehistory to the Romans in the Taschen's World Architecture Series
By Dietrich Wildung
With such a large topic, Wildung could not spend much time on pyramids, but the section on their construction is clear and helpful. His discussion of the complexes surrounding pyramids is particularly valuable. There is a clear and precise description of the features of the buildings and of the evidence for the method of their construction.
Koln: Taschen,1997. Large format, 237 pages, with index; profusely and beautifully illustrated with colour photos, maps, and drawings.
