Toby Wilkinson

From the decipherment of hieroglyphics in 1822 to the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb by Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon a hundred years later, the uncovering of Egypt's ancient past took place in an atmosphere of grand adventure and international rivalry. In A World Beneath the Sands, acclaimed Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson chronicles the ruthless race between the British, French, Germans, and Americans to lay claim to its mysteries and treasures. He tells riveting stories of the men and women whose obsession with Egypt's ancient civilization helped to enrich and transform our understanding of the Nile Valley and its people, and left a lasting impression on Egypt, too. Travelers and treasure-hunters, ethnographers and archaeologists: whatever their motives, whatever their methods, a century of adventure and scholarship revealed a lost world, buried for centuries beneath the sands.

The Golden Age of Egyptology

A World Beneath the Sands

A collection of rare texts from Ancient Egypt, newly translated for this essential edition The fascination that Ancient Egypt holds in our minds has many sources, but at the heart of it lie hieroglyphics. This extraordinary writing system was for many years seen as the ultimate puzzle, before finally being cracked in the 1820s. Preserved carved in stone or inked on papyri, hieroglyphic writings give a unique insight into an awe-inspiring but also deeply mysterious culture. For this collection, Toby Wilkinson has translated a rich selection of pieces, ranging from accounts of battles to hymns to stories to royal proclamations. Entertaining and revelatory, this is an essential resource for studying one of humankind s great civilizations. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators."

Writings from Ancient Egypt

An authoritative history of a three-thousand-year period from the birth of the world's first nation-state to its absorption into the Roman Empire covers such topics as its government, the influence of religion, and the roles of women.

The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Magisterial . . . [A] rich portrait of ancient Egypt’s complex evolution over the course of three millenniums.”—Los Angeles Times NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post • Publishers Weekly In this landmark volume, one of the world’s most renowned Egyptologists tells the epic story of this great civilization, from its birth as the first nation-state to its absorption into the Roman Empire. Drawing upon forty years of archaeological research, award-winning scholar Toby Wilkinson takes us inside a tribal society with a pre-monetary economy and decadent, divine kings who ruled with all-too-recognizable human emotions. Here are the legendary leaders: Akhenaten, the “heretic king,” who with his wife Nefertiti brought about a revolution with a bold new religion; Tutankhamun, whose dazzling tomb would remain hidden for three millennia; and eleven pharaohs called Ramesses, the last of whom presided over the militarism, lawlessness, and corruption that caused a political and societal decline. Filled with new information and unique interpretations, The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt is a riveting and revelatory work of wild drama, bold spectacle, unforgettable characters, and sweeping history. “With a literary flair and a sense for a story well told, Mr. Wilkinson offers a highly readable, factually up-to-date account.”—The Wall Street Journal “[Wilkinson] writes with considerable verve. . . . [He] is nimble at conveying the sumptuous pageantry and cultural sophistication of pharaonic Egypt.”—The New York Times

Ancient Egypt in 100 Objects from the Boy-King's Tomb

Tutankhamun's Trumpet

The life, dramatic reign, and enduring legacy of the pharaoh Ramesses the Great, with lessons for the present, from internationally acclaimed Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson Ramesses II ruled the Nile Valley and the wider Egyptian empire from 1279 to 1213 B.C., one of the longest reigns in pharaonic history. He was a cultural innovator, a relentless self-promoter, and an astute diplomat--the peace treaty signed after the Battle of Kadesh was the first in recorded history. He outbuilt every other Egyptian pharaoh, leaving behind the temples of Abu Simbel; the great hypostyle hall of Karnak; the tomb for his wife Nefertari; and his own memorial, the Ramesseum. His reputation eclipsed that of all other pharaohs as well: he was decried in the Bible as a despot, famed in literature as Ozymandias, and lauded by early antiquarians as the Younger Memnon. His rule coincided with the peak of ancient Egypt's power and prosperity, the New Kingdom (1539-1069 B.C.). In this authoritative biography, acclaimed Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson considers Ramesses' preoccupations and preferences, uncovering the methods and motivations of a megalomaniac ruler, with lessons for our own time.

Egypt's King of Kings

Ramesses the Great

Marking the one hundredth anniversary of the discovery of Tutankhamun’s magnificent tomb, its incredible treasures are revealed as never before. In 1922, after fifteen years of searching, archaeologists finally discovered the tomb of King Tutankhamun. There, buried alongside the king’s mummy, they found more than 5,000 unique objects, from the mundane to the extravagant, from the precious to the everyday. Tutankhamun’s spectacular gold mask is justifiably famous, but the rest of the treasures remain largely unknown, their stories untold. In this rich and beautifully illustrated work of history, renowned Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson allows one hundred artifacts from the boy king’s tomb to speak again—not only for themselves, but as witnesses of the civilization that created them. A gold-decorated chariot reveals the impressive scale of Egyptian technology. Loaves of bread, baskets of fruit, and jars of wine hint at the fertility of the Nile Valley and the abundant feasts enjoyed by its people. Ebony and ivory from Nubia and a jewel of Libyan desert glass show the range of Egypt’s trading and diplomatic networks. Shaving equipment and board games provide a window into the everyday lives of the people. And perhaps most poignant of all the objects in the tomb is one that conjures up a lost world of human experience: Tutankhamun’s silver trumpet. Through these treasures, Wilkinson bring us face-to-face with the culture of the pharaohs, its extraordinary development, its remarkable flourishing, and its lasting impact. Filled with surprising insights and vivid details, Tutankhamun’s Trumpet offers an indelible portrait of the history, people, and legacy of ancient Egypt.

Tutankhamun's Trumpet: Ancient Egypt in 100 Objects from the Boy-King's Tomb

World Beneath the Sands

From Herodotus's day to the present political upheavals, the steady flow of the Nile has been Egypt's heartbeat. It has shaped its geography, controlled its economy and moulded its civilisation. The same stretch of water which conveyed Pharaonic battleships, Ptolemaic grain ships, Roman troop-carriers and Victorian steamers today carries modern-day tourists past bankside settlements in which rural life – fishing, farming, flooding – continues much as it has for millennia. At this most critical juncture in the country's history, foremost Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson takes us on a journey up the Nile, north from Lake Victoria, from Cataract to Cataract, past the Aswan Dam, to the delta. The country is a palimpsest, every age has left its trace: as we pass the Nilometer on the island of Elephantine which since the days of the Pharaohs has measured the height of Nile floodwaters to predict the following season's agricultural yield and set the parameters for the entire Egyptian economy, the wonders of Giza which bear the scars of assault by nineteenth-century archaeologists and the modern-day unbridled urban expansion of Cairo – and in Egypt's earliest art (prehistoric images of fish-traps carved into cliffs) and the Arab Spring (fought on the bridges of Cairo) – the Nile is our guide to understanding the past and present of this unique, chaotic, vital, conservative yet rapidly changing land.

Downriver Through Egypt’s Past and Present

The Nile

‘Beautifully written, sumptuously illustrated, constantly fascinating‘ The Times On 26 November 1922 Howard Carter first peered into the newly opened tomb of an ancient Egyptian boy-king. When asked if he could see anything, he replied: ‘Yes, yes, wonderful things.’ In Tutankhamun’s Trumpet, acclaimed Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson takes a unique approach to that tomb and its contents. Instead of concentrating on the oft-told story of the discovery, or speculating on the brief life and politically fractious reign of the boy king, Wilkinson takes the objects buried with him as the source material for a wide-ranging, detailed portrait of ancient Egypt – its geography, history, culture and legacy. One hundred artefacts from the tomb, arranged in ten thematic groups, are allowed to speak again – not only for themselves, but as witnesses of the civilization that created them. Never before have the treasures of Tutankhamun been analysed and presented for what they can tell us about ancient Egyptian culture, its development, its remarkable flourishing, and its lasting impact. Filled with surprising insights, unusual details, vivid descriptions and, above all, remarkable objects, Tutankhamun’s Trumpet will appeal to all lovers of history, archaeology, art and culture, as well as all those fascinated by the Egypt of the pharaohs. ‘I’ve read many books on ancient Egypt, but I’ve never felt closer to its people‘ The Sunday Times

The Story of Ancient Egypt in 100 Objects

A thrilling history of the West’s scramble for the riches of ancient Egypt by the foremost Egyptologist of our time. From the decipherment of hieroglyphics in 1822 to the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb by Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon a hundred years later, the uncovering of Egypt’s ancient past took place in an atmosphere of grand adventure and international rivalry. In A World Beneath the Sands, acclaimed Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson chronicles the ruthless race between the British, French, Germans, and Americans to lay claim to its mysteries and treasures. He tells riveting stories of the men and women whose obsession with Egypt’s ancient civilization helped to enrich and transform our understanding of the Nile Valley and its people, and left a lasting impression on Egypt, too. Travelers and treasure-hunters, ethnographers and archaeologists: whatever their motives, whatever their methods, a century of adventure and scholarship revealed a lost world, buried for centuries beneath the sands.

L'Egitto è il Nilo, il Nilo l'Egitto. È una sensazione che trascende il trascorrere degli anni e i tumultuosi eventi della storia: chi visita il Nilo sente gli stessi odori degli antichi egizi, di polvere calda e canne umide, e del fiume stesso, che scorre tranquillo verso Nord.

L’Egitto antico raccontato dal suo grande fiume

Nilo

La historia de una civilización desde el 3000 a.C. hasta Cleopatra. La historia del antiguo Egipto y la extraordinaria civilización que floreció a orillas del Nilo es un relato increíble repleto de acontecimientos excepcionales, como la construcción de las pirámides, la conquista de Nubia, la revolución religiosa de Ajenatón, el poder y la belleza de Nefertiti, la vida y la muerte de Tutankamón, la crueldad de Ramsés, la invasión de Alejandro Magno y la relación fatal de Cleopatra con Roma que acabó con la caída del Egipto ptolemaico. Pero si los tres mil años de civilización faraónica contienen todos los elementos de una novela épica -cortes fastuosas, intrigas dinásticas, turbios asesinatos y batallas legendarias; historias individuales de heroísmo y villanía, de triunfo y de tragedia; mujeres poderosas y reyes despóticos- la realidad histórica es aún más sorprendente y mucho más interesante. Los antiguos egipcios fueron el primer pueblo en compartir una cultura, una perspectiva y una identidad, dentro de un territorio definido y bajo una autoridad política común: el concepto de nación que sigue imperando en el mundo. Como primer estado nación, la historia del antiguo Egipto es sobre todo la historia de cómo se unió un reino dispar y de cómo se defendió de sus enemigos. En esta magnífica obra ilustrada, Toby Wilkinson combina un amplio arco narrativo con su detallado conocimiento de los jeroglíficos y la iconografía del poder, para revelar toda la complejidad del antiguo Egipto y contarnos la historia de una de las civilizaciones más influyentes y duraderas desde sus albores hasta la muerte de Cleopatra. Reseñas: «Siempre supuse, antes de leer el libro de Wilkinson, que era imposible escribir una historia de Egipto que combinara erudición, sencillez y autenticidad. Estaba equivocado.» Observer «Absolutamente divino... un riguroso y entusiasta viaje a galope a través de tres mil años extraordinarios.» The Sunday Times «Una exhaustiva historia ilustrada que se centra en el lado oscuro de los faraones y en turbias realidades políticas.» The List «Una aguda panorámica de una civilización antigua a menudo reverenciada por estudiosos y entusiastas.» Publishers Weekly «Un relato sofisticado y completo sobre el primer estado nación de la historia.» The Times Books of the Year

Auge y caída del antiguo Egipto

Authoritative and up-to-date, this key single-volume work is a thematic exploration of ancient Egyptian civilization and culture as it was expressed down the centuries. Including topics rarely covered elsewhere as well as new perspectives, this work comprises thirty-two original chapters written by international experts. Each chapter gives an overview of its topic, and also covers the latest research in the area. Chapters are divided thematically into seven sections, to enable a broader understanding of all the complexities of ancient Egyptian society without the constriction of chronological divisions, and illustrated with previously unpublished photographs and drawings. Providing fresh perspectives on this ancient culture, a digest of current research trends in Egyptology as well as a unique examination of the Egyptian world, this fascinating title enables students to gain a clear understanding of ancient Egyptian society.

The Egyptian World

The 100 biographies included here give voice not only to ancient Egypts rulers but also to the people who built the great monuments, staffed government offices, farmed, served in the temples, and fought to defend the countrys borders. Illustrated.

Craig J. Calhoun

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