The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt

“The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt explains how archaeologists have pieced together their discoveries to slowly reveal the history of Egypt’s people, its pharaohs, and its golden days.

Long ago, a great civilization thrived along the banks of the Nile River. Ruled by awesome god-kings called pharaohs, Egypt was a land of bustling cities, golden palaces, and huge stone monuments. This astonishing culture endured for more than 3,000 years before it gradually disappeared. Its cities crumbled to dust, and the meaning of its writings was lost.

But beginning with the discovery of the Rosetta Stone in 1799, the secrets of Egypt’s people, its pharaohs, and its golden days have slowly been revealed. Bit by bit, we have solved the mystery of one of the mose fascinating civilizations of all time.

All that historians could say with certainty was that “once upon a time” a great and powerful people had lived in the Nile Valley. In proof of this there was the Bible, which told of the bondage of the children of Israel to the mighty Pharaohs of Egypt thousands of years ago. And there were the accounts of Greek and Roman historians, such as Herodotus, who had visited and described ancient Egypt in the days of her decline. Above all, there was the testimony of the giant, half-ruined temples and pyramids that still stood alone the banks of the sleepy Nile.”

— The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt (Landmark Books), by Elizabeth Payne