Egyptian History

Abstract

THE science of Egyptology is scarcely seventy-five years old, and published formulated statements of the history of Egypt derived from the comparatively newly-acquired decipherment of hieroglyphics are not yet thirty years old; books on Egyptian history are now so common that the general reader has yet difficulty in deciding which of those available is best for him to read or study. Dr. Birch's “Egypt from the Earliest Times to B.C. 300” printed, we believe, in 1875, is without doubt, the best of all the small histories of Egypt which have ever been written: the facts are to be depended upon, few alterations are necessary, difficulties are not slurred over, and the whole subject is there treated with the breadth of view and learning only to be found in such a scholar. More concise, but written in the same admirable style, is the “Aperqu” of Mariette, which aimed at presenting in a small compass the principal facts of Egyptian history to the visitors to the Exhibition in Paris in 1867; for the general history of Egypt and the relations of her people with foreign nations in the various epochs of her national life, the reader would naturally consult Maspero's “Histoire Ancienne des Peuples de L'Orient,“ and Lenormant's “Histoire Ancienne de l'Orient.“ The best examples of scientific histories of Egypt are those of Dümichen and Wiedemann. In the “Aegyptische Geschichte“ of the latter scholar, published at Gotha in 1884, the author not only sets before the general reader or student the statements of certain facts, but gives in foot-notes the authorities for the statements, so that his work may easily be controlled.

Egypt under the Pharaohs.

By H. Brugsch-Bey. A New Edition, condensed and thoroughly revised by M. Brodrick. (London: John Murray, 1891.)