Most important book since Darwin's "Origin of the Species." Narrative history tells how modern detectives uncovered evidence of maize (or Indian Corn) in tombs & temples of Egypt. Until January 2010, all the encyclopedias and most history profs believed there was no maize in Egypt or anywhere else in the Old World until after Columbus. Describes over 400 corncobs found in scientific study of museum collections at Met, Louvre, British Museum, Cairo Museum, etc. Fully illustrated, easty to understand, includes Appendices, Bibliography, and Index. A beautiful coffee-table book that is certain to inspire many conversations with friends. Proves Egyptian & Nubian voyages to Mexico 3,000 years before Columbus.

Reveals the methods Egyptians used to build their stone constructions. We marvel at the structures they built, not knowing exactly how it was done. The authors state that their explanation of the Great Pyramids construction is not the final answer and that many mysteries still remain, yet do a fascinating job in detailing how the huge stones were dressed and laid out. Many mysteries are cleared up in this book, which includes over 250 sketches and pictures that back up the authors claims. They reveal how hard work, ingenuity, and an advanced knowledge of mathematics and physics account for some of the amazing architectural feats performed in early Egypt. Yet when a mystery remains, the authors openly admit it. Any serious researcher on ancient Egypt should not be without this book.

Provides description and analysis of Egyptian building practices.

The Egyptian Food Subsidy System: Structure, Performance, and Options for Reform evaluates the economic, political, and technical feasibility of reducing costs while improving or maintaining the welfare of the poor. The report addresses five questions: (1) How well does the present system target the poor? (2) How much leakage- the pilferage of subsidized foods in the distribution channel-occurs? (3) At what cost does the government transfer income to the needy? (4) How can subsidies be better targeted to the needy? And (5) What are politically feasible options for reform?

This book provides a unique perspective on the linguistic relationships between the Ancient Egyptian and Bantu languages of East/Central/Southern Africa. It will be of interest to readers of Egyptology, linguists, students, and the wider public who wish to find out more about the structure of the Ancient Egyptian language and how it connects with other languages, particularly with Bantu languages. The subject matter is different from other books as it examines the etymology of words, together with their sound/meaning relationships and shows by using verifiable hieroglyphic forms how Ancient Egyptian words may be pronounced by inserting Bantu vowels which fit the meanings derived from the skeletal templates of consonants in the Ancient Egyptian language.

Egypt has changed enormously in the last half century, and nowhere more so than in the villages of the Nile Valley. Electrification, radio, and television have brought the larger world into the houses. Government schools have increased educational horizons for the children. Opportunities to work in other areas of the Arab world have been extended to peasants as well as to young artisans from the towns. Urbanization has brought many families to live in the belts of substandard housing around the major cities. But the conservative and traditional world of unremitting labor that characterizes the lives of the Egyptian peasants, or fellaheen, also survives, and nowhere has it been better described than in this classic account by Father Henri Habib Ayrout, an Egyptian Jesuit sociologist who dedicated most of his life to creating a network of free schools for rural children at a time when there were very few. First published in French in 1938, the book went through several revisions by the author before being translated and published in English in 1963. The often poetic yet factual and deeply empathetic description Father Ayrout detailed of fellah life is still reliable and still poignant; a measure by which the progress of the countryside must always be gauged.

First published in 2005. This expansive and fascinating treatment of ancient Egyptian mythology and its influence on the traditions that followed from it includes explorations of sign-language in mythological representation, totemism, fetishism, spirits and Gods, the Egyptian Book of the Dead, and Egyptian wisdom in the Hebrew Genesis. Readers will enjoy the wealth of information offered by Massey, as well as his clear and readable style.

The earliest temples were simple huts made of plaited wickerwork, used as shrines for the symbols of God; the altar was nothing more than a mat made of reeds. In the earliest temples, a wall surrounds the name-stela, later covered with a roof. Temple construction became increasingly complex with the advent of the New Empire, although the plan remained virtually unchanged from the earliest to the latest. A sanctuary in the simplest form consisted of a surrounding wall, a pylon or entry gateway with flanking towers, before which two colossal statues of the king, two obelisks, and finally, the innermost sanctuary called the naos, which contained the divine symbols. Various additions included three pylons divided by three avenues of sphinxes, columned courts, and a hypostyle or columned hall. These Egyptian kings increased the size of their predecessors' buildings in this way. A vast wall surrounded these temples, blocking all noise and bustle of the narrow streets of the crowded cities. On each side of the broad road that led up to the great pylon, the principal gateway were rows of lions, rams, or other sacred animals guarding the entrance. Two obelisks stood in front of the gateway and a statue of the king who founded the temple as protector. The door was flanked by two high, square towers sloping inward on either side. They were initially designed for defensive purposes, so the passage through the pylon could be successfully barred against all foes while sorties could be made from postern gates in the wall. Towers were fitted with sockets at the foot where tall masts were mounted. The gaily colored streamers waved in front of the great doors to keep away all evil, just as the Winged Disk, the symbol of the sun, did. These were usually made of wood, a valuable material in Egypt, and swathed in gold. Reliefs and inscriptions painted on the temple's outer walls depicted the deeds of the founder since the temple was as much a personal memorial as it was a shrine to the tutelary deity. An extraordinary court surrounded the pylon, usually only colonnaded on either side, but columns were running down the middle in more prominent temples, such as Karnak. Many citizens had the right to attend the great festivals held here. The hypostyle was entered by a low doorway, the windows close to the roof, so the light was dim, whereas the sanctuary was utterly and profoundly dark.