cover image Pyramids: Treasures, Mysteries, and New Discoveries in Egypt

Pyramids: Treasures, Mysteries, and New Discoveries in Egypt

Edited by Zahi Hawass. White Star, $34.95 (320p) ISBN 978-88-544-0607-0

This exhaustive collection of essays, diagrams, reconstructions, and maps chronicling the civilization that developed on the banks of the Nile River during the fourth and third millennia B.C. boasts limited appeal due to its dense text, academic tone, and unfamiliar terminology. However, much of this hefty volume is devoted to gorgeous close-up and aerial color photographs which shed light on the ancient tombs built for Egyptian royalty. Acclaimed archeologist Hawass focuses on history's most important pyramids and the great Memphite necropolises, as well as older, lesser-known pyramids. In nearly 30 essays written by some of most renowned Egyptologists in the world, experts share their significant discoveries and elaborate theories in an effort to reveal, among other things, the lives of the workers who constructed the tombs, and the court dignitaries granted the privilege of burial spaces near their kings. The various authors strive to piece together myriad documentation, resulting in chapters on the religious significance of pyramids, their elaborate administrative systems, architectural components, and d%C3%A9cor. As the subtitle suggests, Hawass%E2%80%94Director of Excavations at Giza, Saqqara, and Bahraiya Oasis%E2%80%94also focuses on recent excavations. (Sept.)