Ancient Egypt (Eyewitness Books)

I enjoyed simply scrutinizing the various illustrations: weapons, foods, toys, a strainer for drinking beer through.

My favorite illustration is a photograph of a Roman sculpture of the Egyptian god Horus. Horus is in Roman sandals, a Roman toga, and a scale cuirass that does make you think of feathers, but his head is that of a falcon. That's some real fusion sculpture.

The original author died in 2021, when this book came out in a new revised edition. The original edition was published in 1990. In the chapter, "Weapons of War" a strange transformation has occurred. One of the images shows a painting on the side of a casket taken from the ante-chamber of Tutankhamon's tomb. The caption reads "King at War: This scene from the side of a show more box discovered in Tutankhamun's tomb shows the king attacking enemies from Nubia. His foes are falling in disarray. He rides in a chariot drawn by two horses, followed by fan bearers. In real life the king had a charioteer to drive for him." (Did a king at war, in a chariot, really have a posse of fan bearers chasing after him on foot all the time?!! Probably not. The objects in question do look like fans, but maybe they are military standards instead, like the eagles of the Roman legions? That would make a bit more sense, actually.) In 2021, both image and text have been changed. "This scene from a box discovered in Tutankhamen's tomb shows the king attacking the Nubians. He rides alone in a chariot drawn by two horses, although in real life a charioteer would have driven him. His enemies are falling in disarray." The image in this case is taken from the other side of the box and the king is depicted slaughtering not Nubians, but enemies from the north and east of Egypt, perhaps from a city like Kadesh, that his imperial ancestor, Thutmose III had conquered. Zahi Hawass, who is probably an authority on this, identifies these warriors as Syrians. So, we see two types of deterioration. 1) The captions have become less precise than formerly, because generally shorter. The scene is taken not "from the side of a box" but "from a box". 2) And the caption no longer correctly describes the image. Somebody from the very extensive DK editorial team, with little knowledge of Ancient Egypt, or perhaps no understanding of how to examine ancient artifacts, swapped in the different image from the other side of the box and failed to revise the caption correctly. I wonder what else went wrong with the new edition? show less

Este libro lo tine todo para despertar la curiosidad de los niños a partir de 9 años. Sus magnificas ilustraciones muestran la construcción de una pirámide, la preparación de un sarcófago o el culto de los dioses. Además, el apartado " ¿lo sabías? ", los recuadros temáticos y las preguntas con respuestas sencillas ayudan a comprender cómo se organizaba la sociedad egipcia antigua. ¡Un sorprendente libro divulgativo con el que el niño nunca se cansará de aprender!

Independent Reading Level: Grades 4-6 (ages 9-12)
Awards/Honors: Part of the well-known Eyewitness Books series, praised for its educational value and engaging visuals
Recognized by the American Library Association for its informative content and kid-friendly design.

Good for adults and children!

GR:
GL: 6.5
DRA:
Lexile: 1090L

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