The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt

Starred review from January 24, 2011
Cambridge University Egyptologist Wilkinson (Lives of the Ancient Egyptians) offers a revisionist view of the ugly life hidden by the splendors and dazzling treasures of pharaonic Egypt. He shows in rich detail that it was a brutal society where life was cheap, royal power absolute and established through fear and coercion. Wilkinson finds unequivocal evidence in royal tombs like that of First Dynasty king Djer (c. 2900 B.C.E.), surrounded by 318 buried retainers, probably victims of human sacrifice. Even if construction workers for Khufu's Great Pyramid at Giza ("the ultimate projection of absolute power") were reasonably fed and housed, they were virtual, if not literal, slaves, drafted to perform the perilous work. Later the fanatical, heretic king Akhenaten built a new model city with grand temples where mountains of food were offered to a sun god while his people were starving and severely overworked. The Ptolemies' punitive economic policies unleashed a peasants' revolt that fatally weakened their empire. This is a penetrating and authoritative overview of a violent ancient civilization often revered by contemporary scholars and enthusiasts. 24 pages of color photos; 44 b&w photos; 12 maps.

Wilkinson lays out ancient Egyptian history to the death of Cleopatra as a long narrative, though one sometimes heavy with detail. Michael Page's narration flows with some of the sweep of storytelling but without diverting attention from the text to the performance. He has a deep, resonant voice, a likable English accent, and a serious but amiable manner. Given the density of the information, his pace is sometimes slightly too quick for easy absorption. But he conveys the sense of the text, and the author's implicit judgments, skillfully and subtly and renders a great number of complex Egyptian names and terms with the ring of authenticity. Overall, his skill and intelligence help keep this long history palatable. W.M. � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine