New light is shed on the building of the pyramids at Giza by the latest find of workers' tombs, which shows that free men, not slaves, built the landmark structures. The tombs were built beside the king’s pyramid, which indicates that these people were not slaves (if they were, they would not have been able to build their tombs beside their king’s). Zahi Hawass, secretary general of Egypt's Antiquities Council, said that this discovery indicates that the workers came from top families of the Delta and Upper Egypt. Workers rotated every three months, and those who were buried there died during the construction process.
Find out more about the tomb discovery on Zawi Hawass's own site here. Learn more on daily life in ancient Egypt in Clare Gibson's acclaimed new title The Hidden Life of Ancient Egypt - see inside the book here (and buy here) Or find it on amazon.co.uk Or (for US visitors) on Barnes & Noble.
The List has included The Garden Cottage Diaries on its 2009 round-up of recommended gifts. We can only agree! Buy this for anyone on your gift list who enjoys history, sustainable lifestyles, family history, gardening, self-sufficiency, cooking, food – or simply a great read.
Egyptology UK has reviewed Clare Gibson's latest book, The Hidden Life of Ancient Egypt, and summarises it as follows: "Overall this book is clear, concise, and lavish, which all helps the reader to understand and enjoy the wonders of Ancient Egyptian art.
SUMPTUOUS reliefs and stately friezes, rich coffin-paintings, papyrus scrolls and sculptures – Egyptian artists created works of breathtaking grace and splendour. These are unmistakably expressive works, yet expressive of what, exactly? Their eloquence stands frozen into muteness; their beauty stupefies. Art and writing were less clearly distinguished in the visual culture of the Egyptians: the use of hieroglyphics made words into pictures, pictures into words. Gibson sets out here to find which words. Venturing beyond the wow-factor to the worldview, it examines 50 important works in compelling detail, unpacking them in lively, clear and persuasive terms. An abundantly illustrated book, it offers a fascinating way in to Egyptian life and culture.
We are delighted to announce that Heather Power has won the competition to win a copy of Scottish Ballet: Forty Years. Heather answered the competition question correctly (answer: Ashley Page is the current artistic director), and said that the featured photo "grips the viewer in a sense of anticipation" and "suggest[s] a narrative".
Brian Sheen of the Roseland Observatory, Cornwall, is a reviewer for the Federation of Astronomical Observatories. Here's what he says about John Watson & Michael Kerrigan's new book, The Sky Handbook.
"It is not often that we come across a book that is as different as the Sky Handbook - John Watson takes a holistic approach to his astronomy.
There is a distinct lack of technical astrophysics and a focus on placing astronomy in an historical context. The book starts with a review of the megaliths to be found in the UK before moving on to early views of cosmology around the world
The constellations are given good coverage, not just using the standard maps to be found in every book in the basic genre but also including images from antique maps, Greek history and legend are given a good airing. The solar system is well covered reaching out to the Oort Cloud and including comets and meteors.
Our atmosphere, that thin blue band that appears in space images – the bubble that protects us from oblivion is reviewed with a strong environmental message. Look after our home it is the only one we have. Watson confirms that every snow crystal is unique even though it is based on a basic hexagon.
Clearly a book like this cannot avoid mentioning climate change which is covered carefully. It also includes the effect of global dimming which is holding back global warming. Should this brake be released then the rise in temperature could cause the methane clathrates to break down causing untold problems for Planet Earth.
This is not a first book for the novice astronomer but it is one that should find its place on the bookshelf of astronomers wishing to have a wider view of our place in the grand scheme of things."
"Questioning the nature of progress and how far material sustenance is necessary to happiness is a sane response in a relentlessly consuming and resource-depleted world." So concludes Felicity Lawrence in her review of The Garden Cottage Diaries in the Guardian Review, May 2, 2009. In her review, in which she also covers Fresh: A Perishable History by Susanne Friedberg (Harvard University Press), she describes Fiona Houston's year-long experiment as "a calculated protest, in an ancient and honourable tradition going right back to Virgil's Georgics."
Felicity Lawrence is a special correspondent for the Guardian and author of the bestselling exposes of the food business, Not on the Label and Eat Your Heart Out. The first of these titles was one of Fiona Houston's inspirations when she first thought about trying to live as people did in rural Scotland in the late eighteenth century.
