THAMES & HUDSON DICTIONARY OF ANCIENT EGYPT

the long version

"Every year, millions of visitors are drawn to Egypt and to museum collections around the world to marvel at the fabulous culture of the pharaohs. The ancient civilization of the Nile Valley offers a dazzling - sometimes bewildering - array of kings and dynasties, gods and goddesses, temples and tombs, and this new dictionary provides an authoritative reference guide to an endlessly fascinating subject." "All the major archaeological sites of Egypt and Sudan are described and a unique feature of this unrivalled coverage is a separate entry for every king who ruled Egypt, from its birth as a state to Alexander the Great. Famous pharaohs such as Ramesses the Great and Tutankhamun feature alongside lesser-known kings such as Rudamun and Takelot. Other entries cover ancient Egypt's most important queens and courtiers, its deities and major works of literature, as well as general cultural topics such as language and medicine. There are explanations of specialist terms used by Egyptologists such as akh, Badarian and cippus, and of Egyptian civilization's distinctive features, including hieroglyphs and mummification." "From Abgig to Zawiyet Umm el-Rakham, from aegis to zodiac, this book will appeal to tourists, museum visitors, armchair travellers and scholars alike."--Jacket.