Ancient Egypt, with its gold and jeweled grave goods, pyramids and colossal statues, has fascinated people for centuries. Yet, most of our ideas about this time period, which lasted from 3150 B.C. to 30 B.C., comes to us via Hollywood. And like the Red Sea before it was parted by Moses, Hollywood is all wet! If you truly want to understand this remarkable history, I can think of no better place to start than with ìRed Land, Black Landî by Barbara Mertz. Everything within the pages of this book is backed up by archaeological evidence. You wonít see any references to Hebrew slaves building the pyramids, or of Moses shouting, ìLet my people go!î Nor is there any proof of widespread incest among the Egyptian ruling class. And pharaohs did not have their wives and servants killed to keep them company in the afterlife. Instead, hundreds of ìmagical substitutes, little human figurines called ushebtis,î were placed in the tomb to ensure the pharaoh would want for nothing in eternity. The amount of information Mertz packed into fewer than 400 pages is truly amazing. We will learn how to make papyrus, build a pyramid and mummify a body. Plus, there is no shortage of data about the best known pharaohs. But the bookís subtitle is ìDaily Life in Ancient Egyptî because Mertz concentrates on all aspects of the average Egyptianís existence. She describes their food, clothing, shelter, hairstyles, education system, occupations and what they did for entertainment. We will also see how their religious beliefs were an intrinsic part of their thought processes. At first glance, the book title may appear to have something to do with race relations, but it actually refers to Egyptís geography. The country is comprised of a vast desert, the red land, and a narrow strip of fertile soil created by the life-giving Nile. The Nile Valley is about 600 miles long and 10 miles wide. Before the Aswan Dam was built, the river flooded annually; rejuvenating the valley soil, which allowed a vast agricultural complex to prosper. Join Mertz as she takes us on an imaginary journey up the Nile. In Memphis, we board a boat carrying wine ìto be delivered to the god Khnum of Elephantine, and to the godís priests, who will probably enjoy it more than he does.î (Little bits of humor such as this are injected throughout the text.) Ramses II now rules Egypt, and everything that doesnít belong to the gods is under his domain. Along the journey, we will see farmers tending fields of wheat, beans, lentils, chickpeas, a wide range of vegetables, figs, dates, melons and grapes. Without this strip of black soil, neither kingdoms nor vibrant civilizations could have taken root in Egypt. But the role the desert played in Egyptian history cannot be overlooked. Gold, ìfound in barren plateaus,î provided the wealth needed to expand the empire, and artists used it to create lavish jewelry for the living and the dead. Deposits of copper allowed metallurgists to create the tools needed to build the pyramids. Progressing up the river, we pass many temples, some still under construction. Note the settlements where the craftsmen responsible for the building live in much better conditions than those of the average farmer. To say the Egyptians were obsessed with the afterlife is putting it mildly. The last four chapters of this book describe the steps a person needed to take in this life to be successful in the next. As Mertz points out, that obsession helped to preserve an immense amount of historical information. Paintings on tomb and pyramid walls show scenes of war, dancing, hunting and sports, while also revealing how hair and clothing styles changed over time. Hieroglyphics, on those same walls, tells us what gods people worshiped and the names of their rulers. But ancient parchments reveal the most about the average citizens. These contain everything from love poems and lewd stories about the gods to accounts of an enjoyable visit to the local tavern ñ- and more. All of which makes this ìancient cultureî appear extremely modern. But Mertz writes, ìAlthough the Egyptians sat on chairs and liked to drink beer, their view of the universe was not the same as ours Öî. In the chapter ìSorcerer, Scientist, and Priest,î she explains how the words magic, science and religion did not exist in their language. Nor was the difference between the natural and supernatural world a concept they understood. Yet, most shocking, was the limited amount of mathematical knowledge these magnificent builders possessed. However, when it comes to writing, Mertz claims that we have always sold the Egyptians short; perhaps because hieroglyphs look like nothing more than pictures to us. But read the chapter, ìBe a Scribe, Put it in Thy Heart,î and you will begin to understand how the system worked. Note, too, that to gain ìprofessional statusî a boy ìhad to begin in one place ñ- the scribal school.î Other than being born into a royal family, reading and writing were the keys to success in Egyptian society. At the front of the book, Mertz provides an ìAncient Egyptian Chronology.î It helps to use a bookmark and refer back to it, since she constantly uses academic time references such as the ìArchaic Period, Middle Kingdom, New Kingdom,î etc. But never fear, that is the only part of this history resembling a college textbook. Although Mertz received a doctorate in Egyptology from the University of Chicago, she earned her living writing fiction. Some of you may have read one of her 70 novels written under the pen names of Elizabeth Peters and Barbara Michaels. She employed a free-flowing writing style, punctuated with humor, in her fictional writing. That same style is present in ìRed Land, Black Land,î making this an ancient history both lay people and academics have enjoyed for decades. Try it, and see for yourself.
