Mostly unread ( )

I don't understand how this still is possible: the publisher, Thomas Dunne Books, touts the various volumes of John Romer's work as the definitive historical study on Ancient Egypt. Anyone who knows anything about historical research knows that 'definitive' simply does not exist. And the bold claim is all the more surprising, since the author himself constantly emphasizes the gaps in our knowledge of ancient Egypt. Mind you, what Romer brings certainly is some of the best that has been published in recent decades on the civilization of the Nile Valley. In this part he takes a closer look at the period from just after the construction of the great pyramids to the end of the Middle Kingdom, covering no less than 800 years. As in the previous part, Romer is very thorough, perhaps a bit too thorough for the ordinary layman. For example, he discusses in some detail how our view of ancient Egypt still is too much determined by the work of the 19th century archaeologists and decipherers of hieroglyphics. Very fascinating, of course, and relevant, but I suspect that many readers here will drop out, as well as at the detailed discussion of more recent archaeological excavations.
So this is not a real synthesis. But Romer offers very valuable insights into ancient Egyptian history scattered throughout the chapters, with distinct accents based on his decades of fieldwork, study, and reflection. Rating 3.5 stars. More on that in the review in my History account on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5459464315. ( )

As is usual with sequels, I didn’t enjoy this book quite as much as the first part, which came out a few years ago, but as usual, I think it’s because I knew what to expect. Romer does the same thing here as he did there, taking all the Western overlay out of Ancient Egypt’s history and focusing instead on what the archaeological and hieroglyphic records tell us. It’s all very solid and compelling, with maybe one or two quibbles which I’ll mention below, and the actual quality of the book hasn’t gone down. I definitely like his stance.

In this volume, because more is known about the Middle Kingdom and so more has been written about it, Romer spends a fair bit of time—whole sections—discussing the history of Egyptology, which I found equally interesting. He does this, of course, to point out where certain ideas crept into the narrative, like the “corrupt pharaohs and bureaucrats” thing or the “always at war” thing, and to show how easy it was (and is) for scholars to put their own cultural biases into their studies. He clearly has no patience for any of the colonial or white supremacist b.s. that went on, which is awesome, and calls out sloppy, unethical, and unfortunate archaeological and historical behaviour too.

The only thing that really got to me is that, for all Romer goes on about working from the evidence and not putting one’s own beliefs and culture into one’s scholarship, there are moments where it almost seems like he’s done that himself. Either that or he’s making claims without supporting them enough, which is also a problem. I’m talking stuff like saying “X is a clear sign that the Egyptians in this time did Y and not Z” but Y paints a semi-romantic picture that fits a bit too neatly into his story and I couldn’t make myself believe it was the only valid reconstruction either. I’d need to know more about Egyptian history and current archaeology to say for sure, though.

(Oh yeah, and he keeps using ‘cult’ to refer to people working in and leaving offerings at ‘temples’, both of which I think he could have found a better word for since neither thing is exactly as the modern connotations suggest and he’s usually better about phrasing in those situations.)

There are also few mentions of women apart from brief notes about the power women held in court and a handful of bodies that have been uncovered. I guess this is to be expected with a society where official documents were largely written for men, by men, and with archaeology being led by 19th- and 20th-century men, but it still was disappointing not to get more. Ditto specifics on the development of religion and mummification. This is very big picture history.

Overall, though, this is an interesting, informative, necessary book that I heartily recommend to anyone interested in ancient history. It’s reasonably engaging too, or at least I had few moments of thinking “when is this going to end?” relative to length and density. I learned so much! I have a new appreciation for the Egyptians! I want to read his take on the New Kingdom!

Warnings: Discussion and quoting of colonialist and white supremacist attitudes; related mentions of Nazism. Few mentions of women, as noted above.

8/10 ( )

A very different view of the history of Egypt from the end of the Old Kingdom through to the rise and passing of the Middle Kingdom. Rather than one over-arching historical narrative, Romer explores the Egyptian civilization through little flashes of insight gained from a scrap of papyrus, a tomb relief or some graffiti on a rock in a remote desert. The picture that is revealed is far from the grandiose story of an all-powerful distant god-king, fawning courtiers and oppressed peasants. Instead, Egypt comes across as an intensely practical society where everyone, including Pharaoh, knows his place in running the state as efiiciently as possible. Egypt basically functioned as a huge distribution network for essential supplies from food and water to building materials, metals and precious stones, with everyone playing a part in seeing everything is produced effectively and then gets where it has to be. Far from living in vast palaces surrounded by wealth, the Pharaohs lived in modest mud brick palaces surrounded by their courtiers and their families in vast compounds. And rather than being distant god-like beings, the scraps pf papyrus reveal very human rulers, here we have a Pharaoh involving himself in the minutiae of a trade expedition, another accepting a runaway courtier back into the fold with a gentle rebuke. Probably the most affecting is a glimpse of a Pharaoh stricken when a favourite servant is taken seriously ill, arranging for him to have the best medical care, and then grieving when the man fails to recover. I have never read a book that gets to the heart of the Egyptian civilization as well as this, revealing it to be both more mysterious than we had thought, but at the same time more mundane and down to earth. Just a superb piece of writing which will change your view of the pyramid-builders forever. ( )

This definitive, multi-volume history of the world's
first known state reveals that much of what we
have been taught about Ancient Egypt is the
product of narrow-minded visions of the past
Drawing on a lifetime of research, John Romer chronicles the
history of Ancient Egypt from the building of the Great Pyramid
through the rise and fall of the Middle Kingdom: a peak of
Pharaonic culture and the period when writing first flourished.
He reveals how the grand narratives of nineteenth and
twentieth-century Egyptologists have misled us by portraying
a culture of cruel monarchs and chronic war. Instead, based in
part on discoveries of the past two decades, this
extraordinary account shows what we can really learn from
the remaining architecture, objects and writing: a history
based on physical reality.
John Romer has been working in Egypt since 1966 in key
archaeological sites, including Karnak and Medinet Habu. He
initiated conservation studies in the Valley of the Kings and
led the Brooklyn Museum expedition to excavate the tomb of
Ramesses XI. He has written and presented a number of
television series, including Romer's Egypt, Ancient Lives,
Testament and Byzantium. His major books include The Great
Pyramid: Ancient Egypt Revisited and Valley of the Kings. He
lives in Italy.

December 2016
9781846143793
£30.00
Royal Octavo : Hardback
512 pages