The Horizon Book of Daily Life in Ancient Egypt

"In this latest work, Lionel Casson offers a comprehensive introduction to the people of ancient Egypt. He describes the structure of Egyptian society - the levels from peasant to pharaoh, the nature of the family and the role of women. He reviews the professions, from the lowliest scribes to the architects and engineers who built the pyramids, and examines the work of sculptors, painters, cabinet-makers, jewelers, and smiths whose hands turned out the sculptures, murals, and objects of beauty that are so prized today. He deals with that key factor in Egyptian life, religion; the nature of the gods; the powerful role played by belief in the afterlife; and the career of one pharaoh, Akhenaten, who attempted to put heretical views into practice."--BOOK JACKET. ". . . gracefully written" - The New York Times Award-winning historian Lionel Casson paints a vivid portrait of the people of ancient Egypt - from peasants and pharaohs to soldiers and scribes and artists and priests - and what life was like beyond the splendors and treasures that remain with us today. They had a king who to them was a living god on earth, not merely heaven's chosen.