Ancient Lives: Daily Life in Egypt of the Pharaohs

This is a fascinating description of what is known from the archaeological evidence about the lives of the tombmakers of the Valley of the Kings in the period 1320-1054 BC. (It is not about the lives of the pharaohs.) I have both a paperback and a hardcover edition of this book. The text and typesetting of most of the pages are identical, including the page numbering and the line breaks, even the Index. The matching pages of the paperback have the appearance of slightly reduced photo images of the hardcover pages. Both have a listing of "Colour Plates" on pages vii-viii. The paperback, however, doesn't have color plates; it has very disappointing monochrome copies of the color plates, printed on the same coarse paper as the text. I bought the hardcover edition in order to get the color plates and I recommend that you do, too. (I would return the paperback except that I bought it used for just over $2.) My hardcover edition (published in 1984 by Holt, Rinehart and Winston, ISBN 0-03-000733-X) is entitled "Ancient Lives: Daily Life in Egypt of the Pharaohs." My paperback (published in 2003 by Phoenix Press, ISBN 1 84212 044 1) has the more accurate title "Ancient Lives: The Story of the Pharaohs' Tombmakers." The copyright page of my hardcover edition says "Originally published in Great Britain under the title 'Ancient Lives: The Story of the Pharaohs' Tombmakers'" and notes that it is the First American Edition, Printed in Great Britain.

This book looks at the lives of workers of Ancient Egypt through their own words and artifacts. This is a book I couldn't put down and have re-read twice.

If you've ever seen the television documentary, you will know how thrilled I was, recently, to find this book upon which it was based. Romer takes the archaeological work that has been done on the village called (in more recent times) Deir el Medina, and traces several hundred years of its history. It was located up in a dry valley just over a ridge from the Valley of the Kings (the "Place of Truth") in ancient Egypt, on the west bank of the Nile from Thebes, and was a village unlike any other in the world. There were no natural sources of food or even water nearby, so all its provisions were supplied either by the office of the royal Vizier or the Priests of Amun at the temples across the river in Thebes. This was because the sole purpose for its existence was to house the families who excavated, carved, and painted the tombs and grave goods of the ancient Pharaohs. The village is one of the most well-documented settlements in ancient history, for its scribes kept careful and meticulous records of progress on tomb construction, the use and replacement of tools, who worked in which gangs (excavating, drafting, or painting), which provisions were delivered when, and even who was accusing whom of what when there were disputes. Many of these records were found in offices right in the village, as well as sealed caches in the homes of later generations that moved down to the west bank of the Nile. Therefore Romer can take us through many generations of several families, showing how they lived their daily lives, developed their skills, and passed on the creative torch to their sons. He correlates the history of the village with historical events at Thebes, demonstrating how the abandonment of this capital city by the Pharaohs (even though the city itself remained inhabited) affected provisions, government, and even policing of the area. We follow the main genealogical lines through prosperous times, through a long-standing feud between two families, strikes and periods of uncertain provisioning, a spell of starvation, lawlessness and tomb-robbing, and finally into a last period of creativity before the village was abandoned after several hundred years of habitation. We read the writings of the family of scribes, learning that Kenhirkhopeshef (who kept lists of dream interpretations and health spells as well as legal records) had a distinctive handwriting style, while a later scribe, Djutmose, was given considerable authority in the government of Thebes, and was constantly feeling under the weather. We also become familiar with draftsmen and painters of exquisite skill, whose characteristic styles can be discerned in specific tombs over the centuries. Those who have seen the television series will remember John Romer standing in front of tomb paintings, tracing the lines and colours with gentle fingers, waxing almost poetic as he spoke of the style and beauty of the work. Or walking up the main street of the village, describing the evening feasts

This book stands on its own merits as an engaging, easy-to-read yet informative work of history, the proof of which is that it sold out its first printing. Althoug it doesn't need the likes of me to praise it, I can say that I have read and re-read this book and still draw great enjoyment from it. Actually, I only discovered that this excellent book has been languishing without a review because I was trying to track down its video companion, which aired on PBS during the 1980s and which was my original introduction to John Romer. I am captivated Romer's ability to weave together the bits and pieces (often, quite literally, "bits and pieces") of the everyday lives of a special group of ancient Egyptians, the excavators and artists of the Great Place, the famous Valley of the Kings. Ancient Lives is the story of the villagers who lived in semi-isolation on the west bank of the Nile, whose profession it was to build and decorate the Royal tombs of the Pharaohs. Romer is an everyman's Egyptologist, full of wonder, energy, solid knowledge of his subject, and an I-wonder-what's-over-that-next-ridge kind of infectious curiosity, combined with a natural story teller's sense of drama and language. The villagers' story, as it turns out, has survived them due to the dilligence of the Royal Scribes assigned to the village. Romer knits together the information left by them on papyrus, limestone ostracons, and the occaisional carved graffiti, into a kind of family history, where individuals' personalities and passions, even their peccadillos, bring them and their village vividly back to life. It's a book worth looking for.

This book was given to me as a present while I was living in Cairo. It inspired me to take a trip down to Luxor, hire a bicycle, and find the City of the Tombmakers. It is easy and enjoyable to read, with excellent photographs, maps and illustrations. It was a good guide to the trip as well as being fascinating as an insight to the ancient lives.