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(More customer reviews)To the west of the ancient capitol Memphis lies its necropolis area comprising Saqqara, and immediately to its north, Abusir. On a clear day (wind from the east) you can see the pyramids of Giza large on the horizon, 10 kilometers further north. History at Abusir runs from tombs of the first dynasty into Muslim times, but it is uniquely important for the 5th dynasty, where many pharaohs chose to build their pyramids, and also the sun temples that characterize this dynasty. It is claimed that a line along the three pyramids of Giza crosses Iunu (Heliopolis, whose site is in Northern Cairo) and on Abusir another three pyramids also align on Iunu. From each site, an ancient viewer could see the gold tipped spire of the important sun temple there. (Stephen Quirke discusses such alignments in his book: The Cult of Ra.)
This fine book describes the results, and the difficulties, the missed discoveries, and the satisfying moments of the archaeologists. Starting by describing what little is known about the site of Memphis, it then relates Abusir to Saqqara and Giza. A major part of the book discusses the pyramids, the sun temples, and relationships in the families of the pharaohs. A puzzle about the important late 4th dynasty queen Khentkhus, known from Giza, is elucidated by finds at Abusir. A fortuitous architectural glitch has lead to preservation of many papyrus document fragments, which have greatly informed scholars about the operation of the temple priests and the royal court. A tomb of a royal hair dresser who rose to high rank, another of a `traitor' in Persian times who built a very elaborate shaft tomb to protect against robbers (it didn't protect, but sure hindered the archaeologists!) and other tombs of lesser ranked persons are treated.
The book's nicely sized format allows splendid photos--17 are double pages, 47 more occupy a full page, or nearly so. Some photos have high artistic merit, others are of small finds in the tombs. Diagrams. drawings, and maps abound.
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