A history of ancient Egypt. Volume 2 : from the Great Pyramid to the fall of the Middle Kingdom / John Romer.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 527-606) and index.

Part one. After the great pyramids : history and hieroglyphs -- The story up to now : a history in pyramids -- Writing changes everything -- Reviving Hardjedef? -- Part two. Making "Ancient Egypt": Champollion and his successors -- In the beginning -- The road to Memphis -- Aftermath -- Part three. Old Kingdom: the Giza kings, 2625-2500 BC -- The eloquence of statues -- Finding Menkaure -- Royal households -- After Giza -- Part four. Old Kingdom : Abusir and after, 2500-2200 BC -- Abusir and Saqqara -- Meat, bread and stone : an economy of offering -- The living court -- The living kingdom -- Cult and kingdom -- Part five. Old Kingdom : ancient records, ancient lives -- Papyrus to stone -- Writing in the pyramids -- The dead and the quick : processing the past -- Interpreting the pyramids -- Look at us! : Meet the courtiers -- Part six. Interregnum, 2200-2140 BC -- Suddenly it stops -- Part seven. Middle kingdom : remaking the state, 2140-1780 BC -- Sema Towy : binding the kingdom -- The court of Thebes -- The materials of state : the court at work -- The Levant and Nubia -- Part eight. Middle kingdom : the re-made state, 2000-1660 BC -- The court at home -- Living in the state -- Epilogue : Reflections on a golden age.

Drawing on a lifetime of research, John Romer chronicles the history of Ancient Egypt from the building of the Great Pyramid through the rise and fall of the Middle Kingdom: a peak of Pharaonic culture and the period when writing first flourished. Through extensive research over many decades of work, reveals how the grand narratives of 19th and 20th century Egyptologists have misled us by portraying a culture of cruel monarchs and chronic war. Instead, based in part on discoveries of the past two decades, this extraordinary account shows what we can really learn from the remaining architecture, objects, and writing: a history based on physical reality.