• Provides the very latest and, where relevant, well-illustrated accounts of the major aspects of Egypt’s ancient history and culture
• Covers a broad scope of topics including physical context, history, economic and social mechanisms, language, literature, and the visual arts
• Delivered in a highly readable style with students and scholars of both Egyptology and Graeco-Roman studies in mind
• Provides a chronological table at the start of each volume to help readers orient chapters within the wider historical context

Alan B. Lloyd is Professor Emeritus in the Department of History and Classics at Swansea University and President of the Egypt Exploration Society. He is the author of many publications on Egyptological and Classical subjects, including a three-volume commentary on Herodotus Book II (1975 – 1985).

List of Illustrations ix

Notes on Contributors xix

Preface xxvi

Acknowledgments xxviii

List of Abbreviations xxix

Chronology xxxvii

Maps xlix

PART I The Land of Egypt 1

1 The Physical Context of Ancient Egypt 3
Sarah Parcak

PART II Historical Narratives 23

2 Prehistory 25
E. Christiana Koehler

3 The Early Dynastic Period 48
Toby Wilkinson

4 The Old Kingdom 63
Michel Baud

5 The First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom 81
Harco Willems

6 The Second Intermediate Period and the New Kingdom 101
Ludwig D. Morenz and Lutz Popko

7 Libyans and Nubians 120
Christopher Naunton

8 Saites and Persians (664–332) 140
Olivier Perdu

9 The Ptolemaic Period 159
Katelijn Vandorpe

10 The Roman Period 180
Livia Capponi

PART III State and Economic Structures 199

11 The Pharaoh and Pharaonic Office 201
Ellen F. Morris

12 Administration and Law: Pharaonic 218
Ben Haring

13 Administration and Law: Graeco-Roman 237
Jane Rowlandson

14 Priests and Temples: Pharaonic 255
Neal Spencer

15 Egyptian Temples and Priests: Graeco-Roman 274
Willy Clarysse

16 The Economy: Pharaonic 291
Christopher Eyre

17 The Economy: Graeco-Roman 309
Dennis Kehoe

18 Settlements – Distribution, Structure, Architecture: Pharaonic 326
Gregory D. Mumford

19 Settlements – Distribution, Structure, Architecture: Graeco-Roman 350
Paola Davoli

20 Transport in Ancient Egypt 370
Robert B. Partridge

21 Science and Technology: Pharaonic 390
Corinna Rossi

22 Science and Technology: Alexandrian 409
T. E. Rihll

23 Military Institutions and Warfare: Pharaonic 425
Anthony J. Spalinger

24 Military Institutions and Warfare: Graeco-Roman 446
Nigel Pollard

PART IV The Social Order 467

25 Social Structure and Daily Life: Pharaonic 469
Elizabeth Frood

26 Social Structure and Daily Life: Graeco-Roman 491
Eugene Cruz-Uribe

27 Religion in Society: Pharaonic 507
Kasia Szpakowska

28 Religion in Society: Graeco-Roman 526
David Frankfurter

Bibliography to parts I-IV 547

PART V Language and Literature 639

29 Language, Scripts, and Literacy 641
James P. Allen

30 Middle Kingdom Literature 663
Roland Enmarch

31 New Kingdom Literature 685
Gerald Moers

32 Late Period Literature 709
Kim Ryholt

33 Coptic and Coptic Literature 732
Leo Depuydt

34 Greek Literature in Egypt 755
A. D. Morrison

PART VI The Visual Arts 779

35 Temple Architecture and Decorative Systems 781
Penelope Wilson

36 Mortuary Architecture and Decorative Systems 804
Aidan Dodson

37 Early Dynastic Art and Iconography 826
Stan Hendrickx and Frank Forster

38 Old Kingdom Sculpture 853
Hourig Sourouzian

39 Sculpture of the Middle Kingdom 882
Rita E. Freed

40 New Kingdom Sculpture 913
Betsy M. Bryan

41 Late Period Sculpture 944
Edna R. Russmann

42 Ptolemaic and Romano-Egyptian Sculpture 970
Sally-Ann Ashton

43 Pharaonic Painting through the New Kingdom 990
Betsy M. Bryan

44 Mosaics and Painting in Graeco-Roman Egypt 1008
Helen Whitehouse

45 Egyptian Art of Late Antiquity 1032
Thelma K. Thomas

PART VII The Reception of Egyptian Culture 1065

46 The Reception of Pharaonic Egypt in Classical Antiquity 1067
Alan B. Lloyd

47 The Reception of Egypt in Europe 1086
Andrew Bednarski

48 The Reception of Pharaonic Egypt in Islamic Egypt 1109
Michael Cooperson

49 Ancient Egypt in the Museum: Concepts and Constructions 1129
Christina Riggs

Bibliography to parts V-VII 1154

Index 1213