The Pyramids of Egypt

The pyramids of Egypt, like the identities of Homer and Shakespeare, have always been considered fair game for the theories of amateurs and cranks. Standing solid and enormous in the desert west of the Nile, their eerie grandeur has caused men to marvel for thousands of years. here Dr. Edwards offers a definitive work on these gigantic tombs, drawing both on his own original research and on the work of the many archaeologists who have dug in Egypt. Surveying a thousand years of pyramid building, he charts the rise and decline of the pyramid as a funerary monument, from the step-pyramids and mastabas of the 1st and 2nd dynasties to the archaic and backward-looking efforts of the Middle Kingdom, and discusses in detail the famous group at Giza. Lastly, he deals with their construction and purpose, and puts the pyramids into the perspective of ancient Egyptian society. Illustrated with 32 plates...