Red Land, Black Land: Daily Life in Ancient Egypt » (Revised and Updated)

Barbara Mertz is a New York Times bestselling author who writes the popular Amelia Peabody mystery series under the pen name Elizabeth Peters and romantic suspense novels as Barbara Michaels. She was born and brought up in Illinois and earned her Ph.D. in Egyptology from the University of Chicago's famed Oriental Institute. Named Grand Master at the inaugural Anthony Awards in 1986 and Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America at the Edgar Awards in 1998, she lives in a historic farmhouse in western Maryland.

Esteemed Egyptologist Barbara Mertz updates her widely praised social history of the people of ancient Egypt, reconstructing the life of the Egyptians from birth to death, and beyond death, too.

Booknews

Originally published in 1966 (Dell Pub.). This is a reprint of the 1978 revised edition. An engaging, scholarly description of Egyptian life. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Foreword to the First Edition     xi
Foreword to the Second Edition     xiii
Ancient Egyptian Chronology     xv
List of Black-and-White Illustrations     xix
The World of the Living
People of the Two Lands     3
Childbirth     6
The People in Art     9
The Problem of Queen Tiye     12
The People in Actuality     17
The Red and Black Lands     21
The Two Lands     21
Nubia and the Deserts     31
"Beloved of His Father and Mother"     39
Children     39
Household Pets     42
Growing Up     49
Lady of the House     58
The Egyptian Woman     58
The Queen     67
"Clothe Her Back"     76
Clothing     76
Coiffures     84
Jewelry and Cosmetics     88
"Come, Tell Me How You Live"     94
Towns and Houses     94
Furniture and Household Equipment     101
Food and Entertainment     107
"Be a Scribe, Put It in Thy Heart"     124
Education     124
Birds, Bees, and Flowers     128
The Hekanakhte Letters     140
The Scribe and the Bureaucracy     145
"I Fought Incredibly"     151
The Army     151
Forts and Fortifications     165
"I Know the Movement of a Figure, the Stride of a Woman"     168
Painting and Sculpture     168
Amarna Art     178
The Artist     188
The Architects     194
Sorcerer, Scientist, and Priest     202
Magic, Science, and Religion     202
Egyptian Magic     214
"The Useful Things That Are Established Forever"     220
Mathematics     220
Astronomy     224
How to Build a Pyramid     226
Boats     240
Medicine     245
"The God Is Satisfied with His Offerings"     259
The Official Religion     259
Temples and Rituals     278
The Contendings of Horus and Set     288
The Religion of the People     291
So Who Wants to Be an Ancient Egyptian?     294
The World of the Dead
"An Excellent, Equipped Spirit"     305
Attitudes Toward the Dead     305
Heaven and the Soul     312
"My Body Shall Be Enduring"     321
Mummification-General     321
Mummification-Egyptian     328
"A Goodly Burial in the Necropolis"     347
Tombs and Mortuary Temples     347
Sarcophagi, Coffins, and Other Bare Necessities     362
All the Comforts of Home     366
Funerary Ritual     370
"On That Day of Judging the Deficient"     377
Books of the Dead     377
The Last Judgment     383
Reading List     391
Sources of Quotations     395
Index     397