Last ruler of a 300 year-old dynasty, Cleopatra was educated, clever (her liaisons with Caesar and Mark Antony were as much political as romantic), and responsible for steering Egypt through taxing internal problems and Roman imperialism. This biography will shatter our old preconceptions about Cleopatra

'This readable anthology is a good introduction to a civilization that fascinates like few others ... in this book there are animals who talk, princesses who are locked up at the top of towers, wicked stepmothers and many other themes ... An enjoyable book by a skilled author' Financial Times The civilization we know as Ancient Egypt stretched over three thousand years. What was life like for ancient Egyptians? What were their beliefs - and how different were they from ours? Myths and Legends of Ancient Egypt uses Egypt's vivid narratives to create a panorama of its history, from the earliest...

More than three thousand years ago a sculptor working in the royal city of Amarna carved a limestone bust of an Egyptian queen. The queen was Nefertiti, consort of the 'heretic pharaoh' Akhenaten. Plastered and painted, Nefertiti's bust depicted an extraordinarily beautiful woman. However, Akhenaten's reign was drawing to an end, and the royal family was soon to be written out of Egypt's official history. Not long after its creation the stone Nefertiti was locked in a storeroom and forgotten. In 1912 the bust was re-discovered and transported to Germany. Initially hidden from the public...

Po úvodních informacích o základních historických faktech, chronologii, vykopávkách a rozluštění hieroglyfů přechází čtenář z jedné zajímavé kapitoly do druhé: panteon staroegyptských bohů a bohyň, stavby pyramid, mumifikování zemřelých, představy Egypťanů o posmrtném životě, obdělávání půdy, které souviselo se záplavami Nilu, obraz egyptské domácnosti, umění a řemesla, staroegyptská armáda, Údolí králů, dobrodružství Howarda Cartera při objevení Tutanchamonovy hrobky, chrámy v Abú Simbelu, chrámový komplex v Karnaku a mnoho...