The Great Pyramid: Ancient Egypt Revisited

John Romer’s The Great Pyramid, Ancient Egypt Revisited promises a complete and detailed review of the world’s perhaps oldest and greatest monument. His book is lengthy at 557 pages excluding the index, and filled with illustrations – 234 of them – and numerous appendixes and footnotes. The book’s pages are large (9 ¾ by 7 ½ ) and make for excellent sized illustrations. The pages are high quality slick paper which allows the photographs and drawings to stand out sharply. As the reader probes the book he is rewarded with a fine detailed history of the exploration of the Great Pyramid and numerous facts that only the most knowledgeable person would presume to know, the importance of the Great Step in the pyramid’s construction for example, and the egg shell thin stone bowls found at other sites that display the skill of the era’s stoneworkers.Romer is a good writer and makes his points clearly, even if periodically his wording bars the way to complete insight. After all, the book is a monumental work in itself and perfection in language isn’t easily achievable. Some annoying phrases appear many times, such as “the living rock”. Rocks do not live and finding this slogan used numerous times in nearly every chapter grinds on this reader.To his credit the author prompts us to remember that our minds are not the minds of the ancient Egyptians and trying to look at their pyramid with a modern mind can quickly lead one astray. He reminds the reader that the amount of information concerning the Great Pyramid, outside of the structure itself, is almost non-existent. Romer takes great pains to include in his writing a complete survey of the Giza Plateau and how the Great Pyramid fits into the geography and geology of the area. This is a key element in understanding the wondrous building. Without knowing how the Great Pyramid fits into its surroundings we cannot hope to understand how it was constructed. The author gives us a good understanding of previous pyramids and their flaws, and how this perhaps influenced the builders of the Great Pyramid.The book does have its negatives. The author never discusses the fact that the pyramid’s sides are concave. This is clearly shown from aerial photographs (See, Secrets of the Great Pyramid by Tompkins). His theories about how the ancient Egyptians used a theoretical double six square grid to guide them in the construction of their monument is dubious and takes up too much of the text, especially given the speculative nature of the double six square grid concept. The author also ignores the odd measurements of the major elements of the structure as the standard ancient cubit does not fit the pyramid with exactness and the interior measurements do not fit well with the external measurements. Romer’s ideas of about how the pyramid builders maintained the rigorous alignments will not work. Line of site measurements could not have been used. See Egyptian Pyramids by Chapman (e-book here on Amazon).The concept that the Egyptians used long and somewhat steep ramps covered with a slick mixture of mud will not work either. The great blocks of stone may slide easily over the unctuous mixture, but how do the workers hauling the blocks up the long ramp maintain their footing? If the block slides easily so do the men pulling the block (or maybe pushing it); thus, the slippery ramp concept fails. He never discusses this or any of several other obvious construction problems.Nearly all of Romer’s measurements come from Petrie and his predecessors. Petrie’s book, The Pyramids and Temples of Gizeh, published in 1885, is available free on Open Library. His methods are very exacting and the results of his work stand today as the penultimate work on the Great Pyramid. Petrie’s work is probably superior to Romer’s, excepting new discoveries since the 19th century included by Romer and Romer’s stress on avoiding assumptions made in modern building techniques.Overall, an excellent book somewhat damaged by excessive speculation and a bit of critical omission.AD2

No matter what your perspective is on the Great Pyramid’s dating, purpose, and meaning - Romer is grounded in the traditional Egyptological camp - this is a must read. His attempt to take a new and fresh look at the entire story of the Giza Giant is refreshing and compelling. No student of the greatest pyramid of them all will have a complete education without reference to this work.

One of the most amazing books on Ancient Egypt that I have ever read. John Romer has done a superb job of hypothesizing how the Anceint Egyptians were able to do such a precise job of building such a huge structure as the Great Pyramid - and not an alien to be seen anywhere. Seriously - Romer takes the archaeological evidence and connects it all in original ways, which seem to ring true to simple common sense. Neophytes and amateurs alike can gain a great amount of insight into the civilization of Ancient Egypt in this volume.

Typical of John Romer. And that's a compliment.

wonderful

Extremely thorough description of the great pyramid and the technology leading up to its construction. I had hoped to learn more details about the way the stones were moved up the higher levels. Guess no one knows.

great

great

Having recently read and greatly enjoyed the same author's History Of Ancient Egypt (Volume 1), I turned to The Great Pyramid to find out more about the Fourth Dynasty and its most significant, known legacy. Because it focuses on a shorter period of history and explores the construction of the pyramid in exhaustive detail, this is in many respects a very different kind of book from the more sweeping history. Nevertheless, it sets the pyramid (and the pyramids that preceded it) in a broader historical and social context and is endlessly fascinating in its determination not to fall into cliché about 'ancient egypt'.A few, very striking sections underline explicitly Romer's sense of wonder at the accuracy of the Pyramids plan and final structure. That sense of wonder imbues much of the rest of the text as well even at its most detailed. The book is also lavishly illustrated, which adds to the overall impact. It is a surprisingly heavy (literally) book: definitely not one to be carried around.I am tempted to go for the full five stars. The only reason for not doing so is that, while the writing is evocative and powerful, it also seems to stray into quite marked repetition. It would be interesting to count, for example, how often the word 'exquisite(ly)' appears. I am sure that there are rival texts out there but this one - at least in the eyes of this nonspecialist - is really quite something.

As with all of John Romer's books, this is an enjoyable read. I know his style is not to everybodies taste, and yes, he sees through the eyes of his Christian religion, though we all unconsciously use filters to see the world with, yet he is not "preachy" in anyway, it is simply his style, and I like his use of words. However, this book is meticulously researched and gives the best and most up to date view of the Great Pyramid. In this book are facts and reality. Sure there is no answer to everything, yet, and he does not make any fantastical suggestions about any aspect. For those who want commonsense about this subject, then buy this book and do not waste money on any of the fantasist fringe nonsense, because the only purpose of those books is to make money from the gullible. John Romer gives you truth, not snake oil

A rewarding read - if not an easy one. John Romer pulls together the specialist research bearing on an subject that was, until now, a no-go area for the professional archaeologist. He makes available to the non-specialist a huge amount of information that would otherwise be impossible to know about, let alone find. In light of this, the whacky theories fall away, and the reader is left with a highly practical but still intriguing account of how the Great Pyramid and its companions were built. Indispensible reading for anyone seriously interested in the subject.

A really scholarly, evidence- and reality-based account of how the Great Pyramid was built! Full of knowledge and real archaeological expertise.Such a refreshing relief from all the silly, know-nothing "aliens did it" idiocy. The book is everything I wished for. And being used (but still in excellent shape), it was fun learning what library it originally came from.

This 2007 book is the latest from John Romer the noted Egyptologist and Historian deals in great detail with the design and construction of the Great Pyramid at Giza as well as earlier Pyramid's as well as early attempts to understand the structure by archaeologists and historians.Romer is an artist as well as being a noted archaeologist and a great deal of the book is devoted to the form and shaping of the Pyramid from the viewpoint of the craftsman mason carving it's blocks from the living rocks and assembling the pieces.This book is certainly the best guide to the Pyramids available today.