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, cabinetmakers, 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. Originally published in 1975 as The Horizon Book of Daily Life in Ancient Egypt, this revised edition includes a new chapter as well as full documentation of the sources.

I was reading one of Casson's books while waiting for [my daughter]... She was late, which would ordinarily have thrown me into a fever of apprehension, but on this occasion I was so wrapped up in the book, I didn't notice. In fact, when she did come back, quite late, I was annoyed because she had interrupted me before I had finished the book. I told Casson this, and he was infinitely pleased. -- Isaac Asimov I. Asimov: A Memoir Provides a suitable introduction to Egyptian society for readers newly interested in ancient Egypt or for use in a survey course. -- Vanessa Davies Journal of Near Eastern Studies 2006

Lionel Casson is a professor emeritus of classics at New York University and has written many books about life in the ancient world, including Travel in the Ancient World, Everyday Life in Ancient Rome, and Ships and Seamanship in the Ancient World, all available from Johns Hopkins.