Introduction: Herodotus, Histories, Book II, 35, trans. A. D. Godley, Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, 1920

1. Geography and Geology: The Land: Diodorus Siculus, Histories, Book I, 36, trans. C. H. Oldfather, Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, 1968

2. Brief Outline of Egyptian History: Sir Alan Gardiner, Egypt of the Pharaohs, Oxford, 1964

3. Study of The Material World of Ancient Egypt: Adolf Erman, Life in Ancient Egypt, trans. H. M. Tirard, London and New York, 1894

4. Dress and Personal Adornment: “The Prayers of Paheri,” M. Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Vol. 2, p. 16, Berkeley, 1976“The Instruction of Amenemope,” M. Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Vol. 2, p. 157, Berkeley, 1976

5. Housing and Furniture: From the tomb of Rekhmire in Thebes, quoted in T. G. H. James, Pharaoh’s People, London, 1984

6. Food and Drink: From a memorandum of payment owed, quoted in T. G. H. James, Pharaoh’s People, London, 1984

7. Hygiene and Medicine: From a letter, quoted in T. G. H. James, Pharaoh’s People, London, 1984

8. Containers of Clay and Stone: From the “Satire of the Trades,” M. Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Vol. 1, p. 186, Berkeley, 1973

9. Tools and Weapons: From the “Satire of the Trades,” T. G. H. James, Pharaoh’s People, London, 1984

10. Basketry, Rope, Matting: From a letter, Edward Wente, Letters from Ancient Egypt (No. 231, Dynasty Nineteen), Atlanta, 1990

11. Faience and Glass: From a stela dated to early Dynasty Nineteen, catalog No. 166, in Gifts of the Nile: Ancient Egyptian Faience, Providence, 1998

12. Transportation: Caption to a tomb scene, Nigel C. Strudwick, Texts from the Pyramid Age, p. 417, Atlanta, 2005

13. Sport and Games: Excerpt from the “Sphinx Stela,” M. Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Vol. 2, p. 41, Berkeley, 1976

Bibliographical Note

There have been many attempts to describe daily life in ancient Egypt. Sir John Gardner Wilkinson’s Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians (1837–41) and Adolf Erman’s Life in Ancient Egypt, translated into English in 1894, were among the first attempts to approach the subject in depth, and both have had a lasting influence on the modern appreciation of life in the land of the Pharaohs.