Ancient Egypt: Kingdom of the Pharaohs by Robert Hamilton, the 2005 hardcover, from Paragon Publishing, is part of the collection at the Reading Room. This is a volume I picked up in the random cheap coffee table book stacks at a major book shop, and I’m not sure what led me to check it out; but it has collected some of the best and most beautiful photography of Ancient Egyptian art and artifacts I’d seen before. Only the text is by Robert Hamilton. The bulk of the photography contained is from the Werner Forman archive and is supplemented with pictures by E Strouhal and a number of other galleries, museums and so forth.

“Although they were created thousands of years ago, the great monuments of Ancient Egypt continue to absorb and astonish us today. These imposing constructions — the Sphinx, the Pyramids, the tombs in the Valley of the Kings, and the monumental temples of Luxor and Karnak — demonstrate the complexity and strength of that civilization, while the fabulous treasures from Tutankhamun’s tomb are testament to its intense cultural richness. United as one country in 3100 BC, Egypt developed into an unequaled economic and cultural power under the pharaohs, one that endured for over 3000 years.

The ancient land bordering the Nile is still revealing its secrets, and our understanding of this extraordinary civilization is still deepening and changing. Lavishly illustrated throughout, Ancient Egypt: Kingdom of the Pharaohs gives an up-to-date account of the theories that have been used to describe this sophisticated culture, looking in detail at all the most important people, sites, and artifacts, and explaining practices, customs, and beliefs.” — back cover