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The Great Pyramid

The Great Pyramid
Ancient Egypt Revisited

Out of Print

  • Date Published: March 2007
  • availability: Unavailable - out of print July 2017
  • format: Hardback
  • isbn: 9780521871662

Out of Print
Hardback

Unavailable - out of print July 2017
Unavailable Add to wishlist

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About the Authors
  • The Great Pyramid's eerily precise architecture has for centuries both astounded and puzzled archaeologists and has given rise to numerous modern fantasies concerning the so-called 'Mystery of the Pyramids'. Sweeping away centuries of myth and confusion, John Romer describes for the first time exactly how the Great Pyramid was designed and built. He argues that the pyramid makers worked from a single plan whose existence has long been doubted and even denied by scholars. Moreover, the Great Pyramid's unique architecture is integral to the way it was built, and for its builders the tasks of construction and design were not separate as they are now. By placing this awesome monument in its genuine contemporary context, this book underlines the extraordinary talents and the originality of the ancient Egyptians at the time of King Khufu.

    • Describes for the first time exactly how the Great Pyramid was designed and built
    • A product of the most recent research and decades of personal study by an author who is very well known in media and Egypt circles
    • Illustrated throughout with unusual images of the Great Pyramid and its interior, in many cases taken from old photographs
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    Reviews & endorsements

    "A vast amount has been published on the pyramids, but this book offers a refreshing and distinctive approach based on sound scholarship and written in a style that often strikes a spark in the reader's imagination. One comes away reminded what an astonishing building the Great Pyramid is, out on its own in the realm of ancient Egyptian architecture, and therefore something that does not fit into the generalizations that we tend to seek." Barry Kemp, Professor of Egyptology, University of Cambridge and author of Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization

    "If you read only one pyramid book this year, read archaeologist Romer's, a winner both in size and in substance. Romer (Ancient Lives: The Story of the Pharaoh's Tombmakers) does a fabulous job of breaking down our preconceived notions of the Great Pyramid (completed c.2500 B.C.E.). He reexamines all the old ideas, myths, and legends and washes away years of misinterpretation and misinformation. For example, he reassesses the scarce evidence about King Khufu (a.k.a. Cheops to the Greeks) and presents a revised profile of the pyramid workers' lives, families, and culture. He delves into the Great Pyramid's plan (he stipulates that there was one consistent plan throughout its building), materials, construction, shafts, ramps, burial chamber, and grand gallery. Scholarly yet written for a general audience, this title will be coveted in all public and academic libraries. Highly recommended."
    Melissa Aho, Metropolitan State Univ., St. Paul, MN, Library Journal

    "Compellingly written and judiciously illustrated, this authoritative book will appeal to both scholars and the general public. Highly recommended." --Choice

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    Product details

    • Date Published: March 2007
    • format: Hardback
    • isbn: 9780521871662
    • length: 586 pages
    • dimensions: 252 x 194 x 37 mm
    • weight: 1.811kg
    • contains: 194 b/w illus. 40 colour illus.
    • availability: Unavailable - out of print July 2017
  • Table of Contents

    Part I. Visions of the Pyramid:
    1. Introduction
    2. Making the mystery
    3. Surveying Giza
    4. Excavating Giza
    5. The pyramid's plan
    6. The pyramid's timetable
    Part II. The Pyramid-Makers: The Ghosts in the Cemetery:
    7. At the court of the King
    8. The adventures of the Vizier
    9. The new Egyptians
    10. The social contract
    Part III. The People on the Plateau:
    11. Working the stone
    12. The Giza quarry
    13. Fire and the pyramid
    14. Entrepôt and accommodation
    15. The living city
    16. Coda: thinking with stone
    Part IV. The Land and the Pyramid:
    17. Prospecting Egypt
    18. Desert copper
    19. Aswan granite
    20. Tura limestone
    21. The river
    22. The Giza ramps
    23. Coda: the commanding landscape
    Part V. The Great Inheritance: The First Pyramid:
    24. The spirit and the tomb
    25. Mud to stone
    26. To make a pyramid
    27. Accommodating Djoser
    Part VI. The Pyramids of Sneferu:
    28. The Meidum pyramid
    29. The failed pyramid
    30. The jubilee pyramid
    31. The long journey of the spirit
    32. The dark interior
    33. Two last works
    34. Coda: the legacy
    Part VII. Planning the Pyramid:
    35. Choosing Giza
    36. Levelling the site
    37. The plan inside the pyramid
    38. The plan beside the pyramid
    39. Numbers
    40. Stars
    41. Coda: considering the architecture
    Part VIII. Building the Pyramid:
    42. In the beginning
    43. Setting the lines
    44. The miniature shafts
    45. The grand gallery
    46. The burial chamber
    47. To the top
    48. After the pyramid
    49. The rites of death
    50. Coda: after Khufu
    51. Stone
    52. Spirit.

  • Author

    John Romer, Independent scholar
    John Romer has worked as an archaeologist in Egypt over four decades.

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