Brier, Bob. The History of Ancient Egypt [DVDs]. Chantilly, VA, Teaching Co., [2003]. Series: The Great Courses. 8 discs and 4 course guidebooks.
Cooney, Kara. When Women Ruled the World: Six Queens of Egypt. Washington, D.C., National Geographic, 2018.
Cormack, Ralph. Midnight in Cairo: The Divas of Egypt's Roaring '20s, New York, Norton, 2021.
Goldman Michal, director. Nasser's Republic: The Making of Modern Egypt (DVD). Narration by Hiam Abbass. Brooklyn, N.Y.: Icarus Films Home Video, 2016. Includes bonus features: director’s commentary; bonus clip; 16-page booklet.
Olson, Lynne, Empress of the Nile: The Daredevil Archaeologist who saved Egypt's Ancient Temples from Destruction, New York, Random House, 2023.
Snape, Steven. Ancient Egypt: The Definitive Visual History, DK, 2021.
Treasures of Egypt: A Legacy in Photographs from the Pyramids to Cleopatra; Ann R. Williams, general editor, Washington, D.C., National Geographic, 2022.
Being the centenary of Howard Carter’s famous discovery of King Tutankhamen’s tomb, 2022 inspired renewed interest in and coverage of all things Egyptian. But it was Carter’s sensational find on 4 November 1922 (and the subsequent lurid tales of an ancient curse) that generated a tidal wave of fascination for Eygyptiana that manifested itself in Egypt-influenced clothes, architecture, interior design, jewelry, and heaven knows what else, probably most infamously in the various mummy novels and movies. Thus we might assume the craze for all things Egyptian began in the early Twenties. No such thing. Truth be told, the phenomenon sometimes called Egyptomania had been around a long time, a very long time, centuries actually, even millennia. As just one example the Romans and Greeks of antiquity had a fascination with, even reverence for, Egyptian culture. To be sure, Egyptophilia (the other, possibly less pejorative, term) was given a bit of a jump start in 1798-99 with Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt and the attendant scientific and archaeological discoveries, most significant being the Rosetta Stone and its eventual deciphering by Jean-Francois Champollion. Thus, the ‘modern’ era of Egyptomania began around 1800 and really kicked into high gear with the discovery of Tut’s tomb in 1922, and continues in various guises to this day.
While many people are interested in the legitimate history of Ancient Egypt, probably many more folks (myself included) are fascinated by the Egypt of myth, legend, pseudohistory and pop culture. And this is not necessarily a bad thing. But more to the point, why Egypt? And not, say, the Incas in Peru, or the Maya of Central America and Mexico, or the ancient Chinese civilizations, or the Khmer Empire in Southeast Asia, they of the massive temple complex at Angkor. Or … well, you get the idea. In some mysterious way we have a thing for Ancient Egypt that we don’t have with other ancient cultures. As for me, it’s difficult to say exactly but it must have something to do with how long the civilization lasted, how far away it is in time, its exotic yet familiar design qualities, and, not least, the massive scale of the structures. And yes, I admit that I enjoy all the mummy movies – each is entertaining in its own way – but my favorite is the first, classic, darkest and probably most archaeologically accurate version, The Mummy (1932) with Boris Karloff.
Mummy movies aside, Egypt’s tentacles reach far and wide, sometimes appearing in unlikely venues: in the 1933 original King Kong a member of the expedition crew opines that the massive wall built to keep Kong in looks like it could be Egyptian. Movie auteur Carl Denham then goes him one better by invoking Angkor (“nobody knows who built it”). Then there are other, in-your-face, reminders like the Luxor Hotel in – where else? – Las Vegas. More edifying is the fact that Sigmund Freud was an inveterate collector of Egyptian artifacts, art, and books on ancient Egypt. It’s not too far off the mark to think that Freud saw a connect between archaeology and psychoanalysis. Others have noted that writers and readers of mystery novels are also fans of ancient archaeology. In any case these examples have at their center an uncovering, a gradual revealing of what was hitherto buried, often with a surprise or twist ending.
In any event the titles listed above are a grab bag with no discernable focus other than most are of (relatively) recent vintage and each in its own way, with varying degrees of success, represents an attempt to capture the mystery and mystique of all things Egyptian.
I’m not qualified to judge how ‘definitive’ Steven Snape’s coffee table romp through ancient Egyptian history and culture is, but judged on its own merits Ancient Egypt: The Definitive Visual History is a mostly impressive achievement and has the usual high gloss qualities one expects from a DK production. The thorough index and intensely detailed acknowledgments section in particular add a certain academic heft to the mix. However – and it’s a near deal-breaking however – there’s no footnotes or even a token reading list, much less a true bibliography. An occasional title is tossed out randomly but we find nothing even close to a systematic listing of sources. But given that the rest of the book is so good, we can, if not exactly forgive the omission, appreciate the book’s other, not inconsiderable, qualities, best of which are the many sumptuous illustrations.
Published during the Tut centenary of 2022, National Geographic’s Treasures of Egypt might be seen as the famous society’s coffee table answer to DK’s sumptuously extravagant volume. As to be expected the large tome is dominated by historical and current photos that present Egypt in all is splendiferous and mysterious glory. The book will hold few surprises for specialists or even well-informed amateurs, but the illustrations are something to behold. Alas, like Ancient Egypt: The Definitive Visual History, there’s no reading list.
I’ve seen several of the Great Courses lectures on DVD and listened to a few on CD, and Bob Brier’s DVD traversal, The History of Ancient Egypt, is my all things considered choice as the best, or at least my favorite. In an engaging style that walks a fine line between audience-friendly and esoteric, he gives us a near perfect introduction to the mysteries of Egypt for the novice enthusiast or well informed amateur, and he even provides enough minutiae and specialized information to appeal to the serious student or specialist. There is never a sense of dumbing down the material, and this marvelous perusal once again reminds us of the cultural treasure that the Great Courses series is, either in their CD or DVD incarnations, with the caveat that even they have the occasional misfire, i.e. a boring presenter. But not this one. Brier’s infectious enthusiasm shines through and as a presenter he’s smooth and reasonably entertaining. In any case his chronologic approach with selected side trips to mummification, archaeological digs, and mummy movies maintains a remarkable consistency throughout the 48 lectures.
Brier’s book Egyptomania might be seen as an unofficial condensed version, a kind of pop history take on his Great Courses lecture. Especially noteworthy are the many illustrations: posters, movie stills, pottery, toiletries, cigarettes, cigarette cases, jewelry, et al. There’s exceptionally strong coverage, perhaps too strong (i.e. to the de-emphasis of other, worthy subjects), on the removal and transportation of obelisks. Despite this imbalance, Brier’s book may be recommended as an entertaining breeze though one man’s obsession with Egyptiana, as well as an accessible introduction to the topic. Along with the present book, the reader may also be interested in checking out Joyce Tyldesley’s Tutankhamen: The Search for an Egyptian King and Ronald H. Fritze, Egyptomania: A History of Fascination, Obsession and Fantasy, both of which offer similar if meatier treatments of the subject.
As for Kara Cooney’s When Women Ruled the World, none of the six women profiled actually ruled the world, but as is revealed in the book’s subtitle, only Egypt. And even given Egypt’s primacy as the dominant culture of the era, there were lots of other civilizations around, each with its own traditions and, invariably male, rulers. At any rate When Women Ruled the World: Six Queens of Egypt focuses on the six women who ruled as absolute monarchs of Egypt: the better-known figures of Hatshepsut, Nefertiti, and Cleopatra, and the much less familiar Merneith, Neferusobek, and Tawosret. Of the lesser known rulers, Merneith is perhaps the most interesting: her reign goes all the way back to the early mists of history, ca. 3,000 BCE.
Cooney’s basic thesis is that women rulers in ancient Egypt were not the normal way of business but that they usually came into power, and often held it, in periods of national stress. Less persuasive perhaps are Cooney’s frequent conclusions regarding these six queens and today’s female rulers and women leaders generally. The book’s academic gloss includes map, bibliography, illustrations, chronology, and detailed footnotes. See also Cooney’s informative DVD, Ancient Female Rulers: The Women Who Ruled the World (3500 Years Ago), Dreamscape Media, 2021, which covers much the same territory in somewhat more abbreviated fashion.
With Robert Cormack’s Midnight in Cairo: The Divas of Egypt's Roaring '20s, we jump forward a couple of millennia (at least), and I confess much of my enjoyment of the book is due to the narrative’s semi-gossipy style as Cormack recalls the many colorful personalities, both substantial and more peripheral, that flit in and out of the narrative.
While Midnight in Cairo is ostensibly a breezy examination of the history of entertainment in Egypt, focusing on the nightlife of the 1920s & ‘30s, specifically the energetic music, theater, film, and cabaret scenes, all is skillfully filtered through the political and social backdrop of Egypt in the first half of the Twentieth Century. In this historically conservative culture, the Twenties and Thirties in Egypt were more a (near)anything-goes time in performance and the arts, not unlike the Weimar era in Germany at the same time. And the independence of women entertainers paralleled the struggle for women’s rights: opportunities for women were greater and indeed the women asserted themselves. As the book progresses we have more emphasis on the political scene and less on the entertainment industry. As mentioned above, numerous picaresque characters spice the narrative in starring or supporting roles, but for me hors concours go to the irrepressible belly dancing diva Tahiya Carioca in all her over-the-top glory. But there was more to the woman than just being an entertainer: she was something of a feminist activist and supported numerous left-wing causes [1]. In this historically less-than-progressive society, she was perhaps the highest exemplar of the remarkable women profiled in the book during a time when there was freedom and passionate expression in the arts, entertainment, and even political arenas. It all coalesced into a nightlife scene that’s today, alas, largely lost to history.
The remarkable documentary Nasser’s Republic overlaps much of the era of Midnight in Cairo, and the two books cover some of the same issues (for example, Egypt’s road to modernity). But there the similarity ends. Told largely by way of rare archival footage, Nasser’s Republic is a thoughtful, realpolitik examination of Nasser’s near two decades rule as President of Egypt in the 1950s and 1960s. The documentary is also, to a lesser extent, a profile of the man himself.
As the narrative makes clear, for all his accomplishments in making Egypt a modern nation, and his unflagging popularity with the masses, Nasser never really achieved his stated goal of making Egypt a legitimate democracy. Indeed his methods were decidedly authoritarian. Even so, Nasser comes off as one who ruled more by charisma than by attention to abstract issues and bureaucratic detail. The broad brushstroke narrative rushes through the 1960s and especially the Six-Day War, instead focusing on the 1950s and, a few years later, the building of the Aswam Dam. The best part perhaps is the interview footage with poets, journalists, historians, Nasser associates, and especially Nasser’s daughter, all of which humanizes Nasser and gives texture to the story. While Nasser’s Republic is a mostly sympathetic view of its subject, on balance, it’s an even-handed account, and highly recommended.
Lynne Olson’s fascinating Empress of the Nile gives full due to a major if somewhat low-profile figure in Egyptology, Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt, and in particular her heroic efforts to preserve ancient Egyptian monuments and artifacts in danger of being destroyed in the building of the massive Aswan Dam in the 1960s. There’s also substantial coverage of Desroches-Noblecourt’s acitivites in occupied Paris during World War II, which included work for the Resistance. The narrative also recounts Jackie Kennedy’s efforts as a rescuer of cultural artifacts, which included her own, not inconsiderable, efforts in persuading the Kennedy administration to financially support the Egyptian artifacts rescue project. Empress is a an engaging, reader-friendly read. Recommended.
[1] Tahiya Carioca was known for her outspoken views and volcanic personality. One of the more entertaining anecdotes is the story of when she threw her shoe at Susan Hayward at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival in retaliation for Hayward's insulting comments about Arabs.
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