Pyramid (original 1975; edition 1975)

Through concise text and richly detailed black and white illustrations we come to know the philosophy of life and death in ancient Egypt.

David Macauley has written a series of informative books about architectural wonders. Pyramid describes the burial monuments of the Egyptian pharaohs, who ruled the country between 3000 and 1100 BC.

The author writes:

“Death in ancient Egypt was considered the beginning of a new life in another world. This life, assuming certain precautions were taken, would last forever. Because life on earth was relatively short, the Egyptians built their houses of mud. They built their tombs of stone since life after death was eternal.”

He informs us that the tomb had two main functions: one was to protect the body and the riches buried along side it. The second was to house the “ka” or spiritual duplicate of a person separate from the body.

Macauley then proceeds to describe in great detail the structure of pyramids and the complex of surrounding temples and tombs, how all of it was built, and what kind of labor force was required for the huge undertaking. He illustrates the history with fine pen and ink. He also reviews the complicated process of preparing the bodies for burial by mummification.

A glossary is included in the back of the book.

Evaluation: This book will more than satisfy both kids and adults curious about the amazing steps taken in Ancient Egypt to create such enormous buildings without any modern equipment, as well as perfecting of techniques to preserve the bodies put inside them. Some of what we know today is just conjecture, but the author sheds a great deal of light on how these wonders could have occurred. ( )

690.6

I used to love these books when I was a kid. Turns out they're still pretty awesome. ( )

Perfect for the boy to practice his independent reading . . . challenging vocabulary without a sea of text. Thought he got bored due to the fact it took him so long to finish it but apparently not, since he said that he wants to start Macaulay's "Cathedral" tomorrow. I'm pretty sure that part of the attraction (in addition to the subject matter) is Macaulay's illustration style, since Z only draws in pencil and in detail these days. ( )