As both the burial place of the first pharaohs and a cult center for the god Osiris, Abydos was of immense importance to the ancient Egyptians for thousands of years and continues to yield spectacular discoveries. However, no full analysis of the site has been written in the last thirty years. Here David O’Connor provides the most up-to-date and comprehensive account of the site’s extraordinary history, as well as telling the story of his own excavations there. O’Connor himself has made some of the most remarkable finds of recent years, including a royal burial consisting of a fleet of fourteen boats, buried far out in the desert. This beautifully illustrated and authoritative book fills a significant gap in the literature on ancient Egypt and will be of interest both to students and to anyone who ever wondered about the origins of one of the greatest civilizations in world history.

From the earliest clay figures and ivory combs of Predynastic times, through the masterful statuary of the Old Kingdom and the exquisite tomb paintings of the New Kingdom, to the astonishingly modern painted portraits of the Greco-Roman era, the artistic achievements of Egypt span over four thousand years. In this unique new visual reference work, the finest examples of Egyptian art from museum collections around the world are illustrated to advantage in more than 360 beautiful full-color photographs. Not only a feast for the eyes, this book is informative too, with introductions to each historical period, graphic summaries of Egyptian history and great archaeological discoveries, and a chronology and glossary. This celebration and pageant of ancient Egyptian creative expression deserves a place on the shelves of Egyptologists and art lovers alike.