An Account of Egypt

 (3 customer reviews)

I just finished The Teaching Company's course on ancient Egypt and the instructor mentioned Herodotus many times, so I just had to read this book. His dates are c.484 BCE - c.425 BCE. He traveled to Egypt when he was about 30 and wrote this book upon his return to his home in Greece. It's a very good description of Egyptian civilization- he covers geography, customs, pharoahs, rituals, gods, architecture and more. It's rather impersonal- he seldom mentions any people he meets. If you're interested in ancient Egypt this is one of very few surviving accounts by a foreigner who actually visited there.

This book offers an amazing glimpse into how a historian thought and wrote when there was no prior example of this profession. Herodotus writes with great detail, and is always careful to point out what he saw himself vs. what he was told by others. So we have a dual insight, from reading this, into both the history of Egypt but also how someone thought about history and society 2400 years ago. The language is a bit hard to follow at times because of the style as well as the many references to old units of measurement, but this is well worth making the effort.

This is a review of the free Kindle edition.

It's very interesting reading about a man's trip to Egypt 2500 years ago. It's remarkable how even then, Egypt was so ancient.

I didn't realize it was believed by some that the Greek gods were the Egyptian gods renamed. Herodotus had interesting views on this, the Illiad and Homer and what he saw in Egypt. He provides tons of detail (sometimes too many) on much of Egyptian history, stories, habits, embalming and animals.

If you have any interest in history, give this is a try. Slightly over 1000 locations. Suggest only for older teenagers and up.