First appearing around the mighty River Nile in the fourth millennium BC, Ancient Egypt is one of the great wellsprings of human civilization. Egyptian culture developed around a complex system of religious rituals tied to the agricultural seasons, with the pharaoh a living deity at the centre. Mighty pyramids, tombs and monuments were built to celebrate the pharaohs, many of which can still be seen in all their splendour today. Arranged chronologically, Ancient Egypt offers a compact photographic guide, from the 4000 BC Naqada culture to the end of the Ptolemy dynasty with the suicide of Cleopatra in 30 BC. In between, discover the Narmer Palette, a 31st century BC stone tablet that records the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt by King Narmer; learn about Amenhotep the Magnificent, during whose reign Egypt reached the peak of its artistic and international power; marvel at the massive, rock-cut temples of Abu Simbel, dedicated to Pharaoh Ramesses II (“the Great”), marking the southern extent of the Egyptian empire and celebrating his victory over the Hittites at the Battle of Kadesh; and discover how Egypt was ruled by Archaemenid Persia for almost 200 years, until the arrival of Alexander the Great and his all-conquering Macedonian army. Colourful, engaging and illustrated throughout with more than 180 photographs, Ancient Egypt is a vivid pictorial introduction to 4,000 years of Ancient Egyptian civilization.

Nigel Fletcher-Jones, with a PhD in archaeological anthropology from Durham University, UK, was director of the American University in Cairo Press from 2012 to 2020. He is the author of Treasures of Ancient Egypt (2019), Abu Simbel and the Nubian Temples (2019), and Ancient Egyptian Jewelry (2020). He lives in Canterbury, Kent.