• Temples, Tombs, and Hieroglyphs

  • A Popular History of Ancient Egypt
  • By: Barbara Mertz
  • Narrated by: Lorna Raver
  • Length: 12 hrs and 45 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (569 ratings)

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Temples, Tombs, and Hieroglyphs  By  cover art

Temples, Tombs, and Hieroglyphs

By: Barbara Mertz
Narrated by: Lorna Raver
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Publisher's summary

In this updated version of the classic of popular Egyptology, Barbara Mertz combines her doctorate in Egyptology at the famed Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago with a life-long enthusiasm for ancient Egypt. Her love of the subject is contagious and makes her the perfect guide to ancient Egypt for the student, the layman, and those who plan to visit or have visited the Nile Valley.
©2007 MPM Manor, Inc. (P)2007 Tantor
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

What listeners say about Temples, Tombs, and Hieroglyphs

Average customer ratings
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  • 4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful! Simply Wonderful!

The narrator and author harmonize brilliantly in this audiobook to give a sassy, intelligent, witty history of the ancient kings and queens of Egypt. Very insightful theories on the causality of the intermediate periods, and a few poignant instances fitted in. This is well worth the listen for any armchair egyptologist or academic.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

excellent

fantastic writing and narration, very educational and the author doesn't shy from giving their own opinions on certain matters that really helps to spark the imagination.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Informative but also a bit overwhelming

This book covers the history of Ancient Egypt from the Stone Age settlements through to the reign of Cleopatra and the Roman Invasion. While this was very interesting, it is a bit dated at this point since it was written in 1964. Also, some of this information is biased, but she does usually inform you of it, so you need to be aware of that going into this.

Overall, while this was informative, it was also a bit overwhelming with the amount of information presented in it, especially in the audio format. Also, I could have done with less opinions and speculations and more of the facts as they were known at the time.

Also, I didn’t know before I started reading this book that Barbara Mertz is also Elizabeth Peters, and I love that she also writes nonfiction.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

interesting en deliciously no-nonsense

I have listenened this book several times, I just love how the reader puts the irony in just the right places. Excellent writer/reader combination.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

fantastic audiobook overall

A perfect pairing of author and narrator; it's a sassy old lady gossiping about ancient Egypt and throwing shade on old egyptologists. Very informative and entertaining.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Detailed But With Wonderful Themes

Mertz provides enough detail to whet the appetite of the serious scholar, yet to be understandable by the layman while providing universal themes that we can learn and live by.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fascinating overview of Egypt

Well written history of Egypt with many humorous asides. Excellent narration. With a read and a reread.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Entertaining and educational

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The author took what could be a very dry subject, a long history of an ancient people, and made it truly come alive with humor, “gossip”, and fun insights into the world of Egyptologists. It truly shows historians, as well as the ancients, as just as human as the rest of us.

The narrator is a joy to listen to as well.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Story was ruined by an incompetent reader.

it was clear that the reader had no knowledge prior to reading this book of ancient Egypt.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

disappointed in my fellow reviewers.

Is it just me? I could only take 3 hours of this and had to quit. What are the other reviewers getting out of this disjointed/dated text. The author is ALL over the place, tangent after tangent. Stephen Ambrose, David McCullough, Simon Winchester, Nathaniel Philbrick- I have several books by each of the authors and learn alot about the subjects of their particular books. I know very little about ancient Egypt and this book gave me zero more information, but I did get the author's biased views on many subjects NOT related to ancient Egypt. AND the narrator was just bad. Her toned of voice just grated on me. How could someone give this book a 5 star( and many reviewers did!!)?? Sorry, I just don't get it.

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2 people found this helpful