Red land, black land: daily life in ancient Egypt

Description

An erudite and witty glimpse of the human side of ancient Egypt, this classic work is revised and updated for a new generation. Displaying the descriptive power, eye for detail, keen insight, and wit that have made her novels bestsellers, renowned Egyptologist Mertz transports us back thousands of years and immerses us in the sights, aromas, and sounds of day-to-day living in the legendary desert realm that was ancient Egypt. What did average Egyptians eat, drink, wear, gossip about, and aspire to? What were their amusements, their beliefs, their attitudes? Mertz ushers us into their homes, workplaces, temples, and palaces to show us the everyday worlds of the royal and commoner alike. We observe priests and painters, scribes and pyramid builders, slaves, housewives, and queens--and receive tips on how to perform tasks essential to ancient Egyptian living, from mummification to making papyrus.--From publisher description.;pt. I. The world of the living. 1. People of the two lands : Childbirth ; The people in art ; The problem of Queen Tiye ; The people in actuality -- 2. The red and black lands : The two lands ; Nubia and the deserts -- 3. "Beloved of his father and mother" : Children ; Household pets ; Growing up -- 4. Lady of the house : The Egyptian woman ; The Queen -- 5. "Clothe her back" : Clothing ; Coiffures ; Jewelry and cosmetics -- 6. "Come, tell me how you live" : Towns and houses ; Furniture and household equipment ; Food and entertainment -- 7. "Be a scribe, put it in thy heart" : Education ; Birds, bees, and flowers -- The Hekanakhte letters ; The scribe and the bureaucracy -- 8. "I fought incredibly" : The army ; Forts and fortifications -- 9. "I know the movement of a figure, the stride of a woman" : Painting and sculpture ; Amarna art ; The artist ; The architects -- 10. Sorcerer, scientist, and priest : Magic, science, and religion ; Egyptian magic -- 11. "The useful things that are established forever" : Mathematics ; Astronomy ; How to build a pyramid ; Boats ; Medicine -- 12. "The god is satisfied with his offerings" : The official religion ; Temples and rituals -- The Contendings of Horus and set ; The religion of the people -- 13. So who wants to be an ancient Egyptian? -- pt. II. The world of the dead. 14. "An excellent, equipped spirit" : Attitudes toward the dead ; Heaven and the soul -- 15. "My body shall be enduring" : Mummification, general ; Mummification, Egyptian -- 16. "A goodly burial in the Necropolis" : Tombs and mortuary temples ; Sarcophagi, coffins, and other bare necessities ; All the comforts of home ; Funerary ritual -- 17. "On that day of judging the deficient" : Books of the dead ; The last judgment.