The Egyptian Cinderella by Shirley Climo, illustrated by Ruth Heller, 1989.
Rhodopis is a slave girl in Egypt. When she was young, she was abducted from her home in Greece by pirates, who sold her into slavery. Her blonde hair and green eyes make her look very different from the Egyptian servants, and none of them like her.
Most of Rhodopis’s friends are animals, and in the little free time she has, she likes to dance. The elderly man who owns her sees her dancing and has a special pair of rose-red gold shoes made for her so she can wear them while she dances. However, the Egyptian servants are all jealous of her for getting this special gift.
One day, the servants all leave her behind when they go to a special court held by the Pharaoh. While they are gone, a falcon snatches one of Rhodopis’s slippers and flies away. The falcon flies to the court and drops the slipper in the Pharaoh’s lap. The Pharaoh takes this as a sign from Horus that the girl who owns that shoe is destined to be his wife and immediately begins searching for her.
When he finds Rhodopis, the servant girls protest that she is not Egyptian and is only a slave, but the Pharaoh compares her green eyes to the color of the Nile, her light hair to papyrus, and her pink skin to a lotus flower. In his eyes, there could not be any other girl who could represent Egypt, and her slave status doesn’t matter.
The book is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive (multiple copies).
My Reaction
I remember loving this book when I was a kid! I always liked fairy tales and folktales, and I think this was one that was introduced to me by our school librarian, probably around the time it first came out in 1989. For a long time, I was unaware that the same author also wrote other books based on variations of the Cinderella story: The Korean Cinderella, The Persian Cinderella, and The Irish Cinderlad. One of the fascinating things about the story of Cinderella is that variations of the story about a girl (usually, it’s a girl, although there are some variations with a boy) who is abused by her stepmother and stepsisters but who triumphs in the end when she marries a king or a prince, who identifies her as the girl he loves by a lost shoe, have appeared in cultures around the world. The classic one that most of us know is the French version by Perrault, but there are other versions of the story that are older.
There is an author’s note in the back of the book that explains that this Egyptian version of the Cinderella story is one of the oldest known Cinderella stories. The Roman historian Strabo recorded the story in the first century BC. The story is legend, but according to the author, Rhodopis was a real slave girl who married the Pharaoh Amasis in the sixth century BC (although accounts of her vary, and it can be difficult to separate history from legend).
The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt by Elizabeth Payne, 1964, 1992.
This is a book for kids about the lives of Egyptian pharaohs, including Hatshepsut, Akhnaton, and Rameses the Second. It also includes details of Ancient Egyptian history, daily life, and religion. I would put the difficulty level of the book around the middle school level. It’s a chapter book with very few pictures and more dense writing than others I’ve read in the same series. It’s one of the Landmark Books (called Step Up Biographies in earlier printings).
Egypt is among the world’s oldest civilizations, having a long history, extending over thousands of years. The Ancient Egyptians created a powerful legacy that has influenced other civilizations for millennia.
In the early days of Egyptian civilization, groups of small villages that early settlers had established along the Nile joined together to form kingdoms. At first, there were three of them:
The Bee Kingdom in Lower Egypt — at the Nile delta, on the Mediterranean
The Reed Kingdom in Middle Egypt — near the site of modern Cairo
The Hawk Kingdom in Upper Egypt — near the rapids that lay between Egypt and the Nubians to the South
If you’re wondering why “Lower Egypt” was in the northern part of Egypt and “Upper Egypt” was in the south, it’s because the Ancient Egyptians weren’t concerned about north and south with regard to their kingdoms. They lived along the Nile, their major source of water and transportation, and when they thought about the relations between cities and kingdoms, they were most concerned about whether they were upriver or downriver. So, “Upper Egypt” was the kingdom farthest upriver, and “Lower Egypt” was the one that was farthest downriver. The Nile just happens to flow from south to north.
Then, around 3200 B.C., the Hawk King known as the Scorpion conquered the kingdom in Middle Egypt. His successor Menes (also called Narmer), who ruled both Middle and Upper Egypt, conquered Lower Egypt as well, turning Egypt into a single nation with a single king. However, there were still rivalries between Upper and Lower Egypt, and the people in different regions spoke different dialects.
The Ancient Egyptians believed that their kings, called Pharaohs, were half-human and half-god. Part of the reason for this belief may have been because the Egyptians believed that a partially-divine ruler could help ensure that life in the Nile Valley could continue smoothly by appealing to his godly relations and partly because, if the king wasn’t completely human, he could be considered above the rivalries between the different regions and remain a unifying figure for the Egyptian people, no matter which region he had come from originally.
Although most Ancient Egyptians were polytheistic, like other ancient civilizations, there was one pharaoh who believed in only a single, all-powerful god. This pharaoh was Akhnaton, the father of Tutankhamen. (The book refers to Tutankhamen as a younger half brother of Akhnaton, but later sources say that he was Akhnaton’s son, although there is still some dispute about that. Either way, the two were related, and Tutankhamen was Akhnaton’s successor.) Akhnaton worshipped the sun, calling the sun god Aton. Part of the reason for this conversion to the worship of a single sun god instead of the many gods of the Ancient Egyptian pantheon may have been due to a power struggle between the pharaoh and the High Priest of Amon. However, Akhnaton seemed to genuinely believe in the Aton and was devoted to it, establishing a new capital city and outlawing worship of other gods. Unfortunately, his health was frail, and worship of the Aton didn’t extend beyond his death around the age of 42, with Egyptians returning to worship their old gods. Tutankhamen, who had been born Tutankhaton, changed his name and moved the capital away from Akhnaton’s city. Tutankhamen’s reign was short. He died in his late teens. (The cause of his death has never been precisely determined, although it seems likely that it was a combination of ill health, possibly a congenital condition due to inbreeding in the royal family, malaria, and a physical injury.) Tutankhamen’s main source of fame is his tomb, found largely intact in November, 1922.
Dynasties of Egyptian Pharaohs ruled Egypt for thousands of years, although in the later centuries of Ancient Egypt, foreign rulers moved in and took control for long periods. Then, in 332 B.C., Alexander the Great conquered Egypt, bringing it under Greek and Macedonian control and ending the reign of Egyptian Pharoahs forever.
Cleopatra: Queen of the Kings by Fiona MacDonald, illustrated by Chris Molan, 1998, 2003.
I always like books from DK Publishing because they have great illustrations, and they do a good job of helping to explain nonfiction topics, including different periods of history. However, one thing that’s important to realize is that you really have to read all of the small text that accompanies even the small pictures in order to get the full story. If you don’t, you may miss important details. Although this is a picture book, the detailed nature of the information and some of the dark subject matter make it inappropriate for young children.
This particular book is about the life of Cleopatra, the famous Egyptian queen. The queen we know as simply Cleopatra was actually Cleopatra VII. She was part of a dynasty of Egyptian rulers who were originally from Macedonia, a region of Greece. This dynasty was known as the Ptolemaic Dynasty because all of the kings in the dynasty were named Ptolemy, including Cleopatra’s father, Ptolemy XII. There were certain names that were repeated in every generation of the family and even within generations, like Ptolemy (Cleopatra’s two brothers both had this name), Cleopatra (Cleopatra also had a sister who was also named Cleopatra), and Arsinoe (Cleopatra’s younger sister). The book doesn’t fully explain why they came from Macedonia, but one of Cleopatra’s ancestors, Ptolemy I, was a Macedonian nobleman and a friend of Alexander the Great. Ptolemy I went with Alexander the Great on his military campaigns. Through his service to Alexander the Great, Ptolemy I was made the Greek governor of Egypt, ruling from the city Alexandria, which had been established by Alexander the Great. Alexandria was an important port city as well as the seat of the royal family. It was a gathering place of traders, scholars, and people from different cultures in Egypt, although average Egyptian citizens viewed it more as city of foreigners, just as the royal family itself was also foreign. That’s an abbreviated explanation of the family’s history, but it helps to understand that, while the family ruled Egypt for generations, they remained culturally Greek. The book mentions that most of the members of Cleopatra’s family only spoke Greek and that Cleopatra departed from the norm by learning to speak Egyptian.
Cleopatra was born into tumultuous times in the history of Egypt and her family. Her father was known as a cruel ruler who taxes his people heavily and sent large amounts of money to Rome, attempting to befriend Roman leaders and bribe them not to invade Egypt. In 58 BC, Alexandrian citizens had enough of Ptolemy XII and the way he catered to Rome, and they revolted, forcing Ptolemy XII to flee the city for Rome. Cleopatra was only fourteen years old at the time. Members of the family were left behind in Alexandria when Ptolemy XII fled, and Cleopatra’s oldest sister, Berenice claimed the throne in her father’s absence. The Ptolemies were always focused on maintaining their power, even in the face of competition or opposition from family members, and they were not afraid to fight or even kill each other to maintain control. Berenice may have murdered another of her sisters during her time as queen because she died under mysterious circumstances. However, when Ptolemy XII returned to Egypt a few years later, he had Berenice executed as a rival for the throne. By then, Cleopatra was the oldest surviving child of the family, with only her youngest sister and her brothers still alive.
A few years later, Ptolemy XII died, and Cleopatra acted quickly and prudently to secure both her life and her power. Her younger brother, Ptolemy XIII, had a claim to the throne, but he was still only twelve years old, and Cleopatra was eighteen. Asserting her authority over her child brother, Cleopatra took the throne as the oldest remaining offspring of Ptolemy XII and married her brother in order to turn her brother from a rival for power into a further source of her own authority. She could then rule on her brother’s behalf as his wife as well as his older sister. (Other Egyptian rulers had married close relatives for reasons like that. Tutankhamen was similarly the result of an incestuous royal relationship.) As queen, Cleopatra called herself the Sun God’s Daughter, an old royal title that tied her image to rulers of the past and the gods of Ancient Egypt.
From the beginning, being queen was a difficult task for Cleopatra. There were famines in Egypt during the beginning of her reign, and Cleopatra had to manage a response that would satisfy the citizens that she was doing her job as ruler. Family rivalries were also an ever-present danger. Cleopatra knew that she had enemies in her court, including people who favored her brother over her. As her brother got older, he became dissatisfied with the way his sister was ruling without sharing power and authority with him. For a time, Ptolemy XIII forced Cleopatra to flee Egypt and go to Syria. Cleopatra took her sister Arsinoe with her, both to protect her from their brother and to prevent her from trying to seize power herself. (In the Ptolemy dynasty, either could be a possibility. When family members weren’t in danger from each other, they could be a danger to each other.)
In the meantime, Julius Caesar came to Egypt to collect a debt that he claimed that Cleopatra’s father had owed him. He arrived during the power struggle between Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIII, and he decided that it would be for the best to try to mediate peace treaty with the two of them. He wanted to meet with both Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIII together, but Cleopatra knew that there was a risk that she might be killed if she showed up for a meeting. Yet, she did want to meet with Caesar because she recognized that he could be an important friend and source of protection for her. She ended up visiting Caesar in secret. According to legend, she had herself delivered to Caesar’s room in a rolled-up carpet. Caesar was charmed by Cleopatra and became her ally. When the news of their alliance spread, it tipped the balance of power in the royal family. Caesar learned that Ptolemy XIII’s adviser was plotting against him and had him executed. Ptolemy XIII fled with Arsinoe to join the Egyptian army and was later killed and found dead in Alexandria’s harbor. Getting rid of her brother/husband and his advisers secured Cleopatra’s position. She had one remaining brother, Ptolemy XIV, who was only eleven years old at the time, so she married him, too, further solidifying her power. As her ally (and possible lover), Caesar provided her with guards for her safety.
Cleopatra had a son named Caesarion, who was rumored to be Caesar’s son as well. However, Romans feared that Julius Caesar would proclaim Caesarion as his heir. They didn’t want him as the future ruler of Rome, citizens were appalled at the way Arsinoe was paraded through the streets as a war prize, and people generally began to fear that Caesar was becoming too powerful. In 44 BC, Caesar was assassinated by a group of senators. Cleopatra was in Rome when Caesar was killed, and she fled back to Egypt with her son. Around this time, Ptolemy XIV disappeared, and he may have been murdered by Cleopatra. With a son to inherit her throne, Cleopatra no longer needed Ptolemy XIV. However, her Roman protector was now gone, and Cleopatra still had enemies at court. Cleopatra’s remaining sibling, Arsinoe, sided with Caesar’s enemies and plotted against her sister and Caesarion.
Nobody knows exactly what Cleopatra looked like (statues and carvings of her don’t always look alike, and they may have been idealized images of her), but she took care of her appearance as part of her image as queen. Apparently, Cleopatra was more striking than beautiful, and what struck people about her the most was her intelligence and personality. Her charm was one of her most important tools in winning allies, and she used it again to win over a new ally to replace Caesar. She found a new ally in Marcus Antonius (also known as Mark Antony), one of the candidates to replace Caesar in Rome.
Mark Antony needed the control of Egypt and its resources and the support of Cleopatra for his own political purposes. To win his support for her purposes, Cleopatra began a romantic relationship with Mark Antony that eventually became a major part of the legends around Cleopatra. Although Mark Antony already had a wife in Rome, he became devoted to Cleopatra and fathered a set of twins with her and, later, a third child.
When Caesar’s nephew, Octavian, learned that Antony had divorced his wife and was conspiring against him, he declared war on Egypt to take down both Antony and Cleopatra. Cleopatra and Antony’s forces were defeated at the Battle of Actium although the two of the escaped. Feeling that the end was probably near, Cleopatra had stoneworkers hurry to complete her tomb. She began experimenting with poisons, and she and Antony swore to each other that they would die together. When Antony’s soldiers turned against him and refused to fight, Antony was disgraced and forced to flee. He ended up taking his own life by stabbing himself. Cleopatra had retreated into her own mausoleum, planning to die, but Octavian allowed her to remain there as a prisoner while she arranged Antony’s funeral. The exact cause of Cleopatra’s death has never been confirmed, but according to legend, she arranged her own death by the bite of an asp and sent a note to Octavian, asking that she be buried with Antony.
It’s a tragic end to a story that was full of treachery and family rivalries from the very beginning. Octavian refused to allow any of Cleopatra’s children to assume the throne of Egypt, ending the reign of pharaohs forever. Rome took control of Egypt, and Cleopatra’s children were sent to be raised by Antony’s first wife in Rome, Octavia (who was also Octavian’s younger sister). Caesarion tried to flee to Syria, but he was caught and executed by Octavian’s orders. No one knows what happened to Cleopatra’s other two sons because they disappear from historical records after this point, so they may have died young (or were murdered, given how things went in the powerful circles in which they lived). However, Cleopatra’s daughter survived, grew up, and eventually married the King of Mauretania, a region in North Africa. The book mentions that she had a son that she also named Ptolemy, but it doesn’t mention that this Ptolemy was the last king of Mauretania and was assassinated by Caligula. Caligula and Ptolemy were distant relatives of each other because Ptolemy of Mauretania was a grandson of Antony, and Caligula was descended from both Antony and Octavian. In many ways, it seems like this family’s greatest misfortunes were themselves and each other. Fortunately, the death of death of Ptolemy of Mauretania didn’t end the family line. It’s unknown whether or not Cleopatra has living descendants today, but Ptolemy of Mauretania did have a sister (the details of her life are unknown) and a daughter named Drusilla, who apparently grew up, married, and continued the family line. Further down the family tree, relationships and offspring become harder to trace.
Something I particularly liked about this book was the separation between the legends of Cleopatra and the her known history. As with other ancient historical figures, the history and legends go hand-in-hand, and it can become difficult to separate the two. The book is pretty open about which parts of her life are known, what can’t be firmly established, and which parts of her story come to us from legend and may or may not be reality. The final section in the book discusses the known facts and fiction about Cleopatra and possible confusions between her and other Cleopatras in her family (which may be another reason why not all of the images of Cleopatra look alike). It also explains the information about Cleopatra in Plutarch‘s biography of Mark Antony and how his stories inspired Shakespeare’s play and modern movies about Cleopatra.
The book is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive.
101 Wacky Facts About Mummies by Jack C. Harris, 1991.
This is a book of fun facts about mummies, particular ones from Ancient Egypt, but also ones from other parts of the world. Some of the facts and trivia have to do with the way mummies are made, and others have to do with the discoveries of mummies in modern times.
Here’s just a sampling of the kinds of facts the book offers about mummies in each section:
Will the Real Mummy Please Lie Down? – Basically introduces what mummies are and basic methods for making them and mentions that they’re thousands of years old and that many still have fingernails and toenails.
Egyptians: The Mummy-Making Masters – Facts specifically about Egyptian mummies, including the fact that the Ancient Egyptians never wrote a guide to how to make mummies and few sources have been found with any description of the process, so no one knows precisely what combination of preservatives they used.
Wrap Session! – More about how Egyptians made mummies, including how they removed bodily organs and stored them separately from the body, probably throwing away the brain because they thought that the heart was more important, believing it to be where intelligence and memory were stored. Sometimes, mummies were also painted in different colors to indicate if they were male or female – males were painted red, and females were painted yellow. Fingernails and toenails might also be capped with gold.
The First Mummy-Wrappers – This section is about the Egyptians who embalmed mummies. It was a profession that was generally passed down through families, and they lived in a special area of their city because other people didn’t want to live near people who handled dead bodies for a living. However, the embalmers often had servants or slaves who would be made to do the worst parts of the embalming.
Tomb It Make Concern – This section is about the construction of pyramids and tombs. Because they took years to construct, pharaohs would start the construction of their own tombs immediately on taking the throne.
Farewell, Mummy Dearest – This section talks about funerals, mourners, and what Egyptians believed about the afterlife.
I Want My Mummy! – This section discusses things later people did because they were fascinated by ancient mummies. Sometimes, poor Egyptians would dig up mummies to sell or create fake mummies to satisfy demand. Sometimes, mummies were used in medicines because people believed that the secrets of their preservation could be used to heal the living or help them maintain their youth. During the 19th century, some people would hold “mummy unwrapping” parties, where they would show off and unwrap a mummy they had purchased.
The Chinchorro Connection – This section is about South American mummies.
Natural Beauties! – There are natural conditions that can preserve human bodies, like the cold in high mountains and the acids in peat bogs.
Better Left Shut: The Tomb of King Tut – King Tut’s tomb is one of the most famous Ancient Egyptian tombs because it was relatively undisturbed when modern people found it.
The Curse of King Tut’s Tomb – A series of strange and unfortunate events that happened around the time of the discovery of King Tut’s tomb led to the rumor that the tomb was cursed.
The book is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive.
Seymour Sleuth, an Australian wombat living in London, introduces himself as “the greatest detective in the world.” His friend, Abbott Muggs, a mouse, is a photographer who assists him in his cases and documents them. When the story begins, Seymour receives a telegram from his friend Professor Slagbottom, who is working on an archaeological site in Egypt. Someone has stolen one of their finds, the Stone Chicken of King Karfu, and he needs Seymour’s help to find it! Seymour and Muggs head for Egypt!
King Karfu was a wealthy pharaoh and a wonderful cook, and the Stone Chicken may provide clues about the Lost Treasure of King Karfu, the nature of which is unknown. When they reach the dig in Egypt, Professor Slagbottom explains that he was researching a message in code on the outside of the Chicken when it was stolen. The suspects are the other people on the dig, who may be trying to steal King Karfu’s Treasure.
Seymour interviews the suspects one at a time and considers their connection to clues found at the scene of the crime. As an adult, I figured out who the culprit was pretty quickly, but for the benefit of child readers, Seymour provides notes about the clues and suspects to help them understand the connections. The pictures in the story also provide important clues. After Professor Slagbottom’s decoder is stolen, Seymour realizes who the thief is.
After they get the Stone Chicken back, readers can use the decoder provided to solve the code and learn where the Treasure is. It turns out that the Treasure is actually a recipe, written in the same substitution code – for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!
I always like mysteries that involve codes and puzzles, and this cute animal mystery would be fun and challenging for young kids. With the key provided, it would be a good introduction to substitution codes for kids who have never seen them. There is one other book with Seymour Sleuth, The Mystery of the Monkey’s Maze. The author, Doug Cushman, is also the author of the Aunt Eater Mysteries.
The book is currently available online through Internet Archive.
Blossom Culp and the Sleep of Death by Richard Peck, 1986.
This book starts shortly after the previous book in the series ends. After Blossom’s old history teacher was run out of town for his scandalous behavior, he was replaced by Miss Fairweather. Miss Fairweather is a tough, no-nonsense woman who pushes her students to study hard and take history seriously. Unexpectedly, she comes to appreciate Blossom, an outcast from a poor family, because Blossom demonstrates some knowledge of Ancient Egypt. Little does Miss Fairweather know that Blossom’s comments in class were inspired by one of the visions that Blossom occasionally gets because of her psychic gifts.
Blossom experiences a visitation from the spirit of an Ancient Egyptian princess who says that she needs Blossom’s help. Years ago, her mummy and some precious objects were stolen from her tomb. The princess doesn’t seem to know exactly where her “earthly form” is now, but she’s sure that it’s somewhere nearby. She’s very concerned because she senses that archaeologists in Egypt are digging to find her tomb and knows that when they finally reach it, they will discover that she isn’t there. Rather than being concerned about her tomb being violated by the archaeologists, the princess senses that they are searching for her remains in order to venerate them, that if they find her mummy, they will take it to a place of great beauty where it will be treated with the utmost care and respect (a museum). She wants that and fears that she will miss her chance at the kind of immortality that this form of glorification, care, and study will provide. So, she asks Blossom to find her earthly remains and inform the searchers of her true whereabouts. At first, Blossom has no idea how she can accomplish that, but the princess threatens her with a true Egyptian curse if she doesn’t try.
Then, Blossom receives a clue to the mystery in the form of a beautiful Egyptian scarab that her mother found one day while she was out scavenging. If Blossom can find the place where her mother found the jewel, she can also find the princess’s mummy. Fortunately, Miss Fairweather has assigned the class special projects about Ancient Egypt, and she is thrilled when Blossom says that she wants to study grave robbers. Blossom sees this as a good way to collect some extra information about grave robbers that she can use to find the princess’s mummy as well as get a good grade in Miss Fairweather’s class. It also proves to be an excellent way to draw Alexander Armsworth into her search for the mummy.
Alexander still denies to Blossom that he has real psychic abilities like hers, even after their previous adventures together. He insists that it was just a phase that they were going through, one that he wants to leave behind. He’s been busy flirting with Letty, the class snob, and he’s trying hard to get into a prestigious fraternity so that he can give Letty his fraternity pin. Not only does Blossom think that the boys in the fraternity are a bunch of idiots who do stupid things, but the idea of Alexander giving Letty his pin as a sign of their relationship is just sickening.
Blossom is reluctant to admit her real feelings for Alexander, but the two of them are close in ways that Letty and Alexander never will be because of their shared abilities and adventures, and Blossom has a sense that their futures will be intertwined as well. Alexander is angry that Blossom is roping her into yet another supernatural escapade, but he has to go along with her project idea because he has already gotten on Miss Fairweather’s bad side and needs to do well on the project to save his grade in class.
Along with the supernatural adventure, there is also a look into the past, the world of 1910s America as well as Ancient Egypt. First, there are the traditions of stunts associated with Alexander’s initiation into his fraternity and the tradition of giving a girl a fraternity pin as a precursor to engagement (“engaged to be engaged”). Then, they discover that Miss Fairweather is a suffragette, which is the reason why she left her previous teaching job. Her feminist ideals cause problems for her in her new, small town when they become known, but with Blossom’s help, she wins over some of the influential women in town as well as a male admirer.
The book is currently available online through Internet Archive.
Egyptian Diary: The Journal of Nakht by Richard Platt, 2005.
A young boy in Ancient Egypt, Nakht, is excited because his family will soon move to Memphis because a distant relative has offered his father a job working as a scribe. Memphis is a large, important city, with more opportunities than Esna, where the family currently lives. Nakht is also training to be a scribe, so he begins writing an account of his family’s journey to Memphis and what they encounter when they arrive.
The journey to Memphis includes a boat trip down the Nile, past the City of the Dead near Thebes, where pharaohs are buried. When they arrive in Memphis, they make themselves at home in their new house, which is bigger than their old one. For the first time, Nakht has a private bedroom of his own, and the wall is decorated with a hunting scene. Nakht also has a bed to sleep in, although he is still more accustomed to sleeping on a mat on the floor, as he did back in Esna.
In Esna, Nakht’s father had taught him his lessons as a scribe, but in Memphis, Nakht begins attending a school with other boys. There, he practices his writing as always, although he must also learn the older, more formal hieroglyphic form of writing used on the walls of temples and for public inscriptions as well as the less formal writing used more commonly. Nakht also receives lessons in building and engineering, which includes calculating the weight of the building stones, how many people it would take to move them, and how much food and drink the workers would need during their time of service). Sometimes, their teacher also takes the students places for lessons, like taking them to the fields near the river so they can see how to build canals and how farmers water their fields.
There are many exciting things going on in Memphis. Ships come and go from many places. When the Nile floods, Nakht describes how the Controller of Granaries sets the taxes on grain for the following year by measuring the highest height of the Nile during the flooding time, which is an indicator of how good the next year’s grain harvest will be. Nakht and his sister Tamyt witness the funeral procession of a scribe, complete with dancers, paid mourners, and a procession of servants carrying all of the furniture and supplies to be loaded into the man’s tomb for him to use in the afterlife.
Then, Nakht learns that his father and other scribes are investigating tomb robberies in Saqqara. Nakht and Tamyt have never seen the tombs before, but their father refuses to let them come with him. Instead, the two of them sneak over by themselves to have a look. While they are there, they witness the robbing of a tomb! They get a good look at an unusual ring on the finger of one of the robbers and are shocked to later see an identical ring on the finger of a very important person!
At the end of the story, when Nakht and Tamyt are rewarded for their role in catching the thieves, it is revealed that the current king of Egypt is Hatshepsut, who is actually a woman.
Among the other things that Nakht explains about his life are how the doctor treated him when he broke his arm, how grain is harvested, how different types of craftsman work, and how houses are built. Nakht also undergoes a special hair-cutting ceremony as a coming-of-age ritual.
There is a section in the back that explains more about Ancient Egyptian history and society. It also explains Egyptian writing, religion, mummies, and tombs.
The book is part of a series of historical picture books. It is currently available online through Internet Archive.
The Curse of the Egyptian Mummy by Pat Hutchins, 1983.
The 15th Hampstead Cub Scouts are looking forward to their camping trip. Miss. Hylyard, who runs a guesthouse for retired people, lets the scouts camp on her land and enjoys having them visit her house and entertain her guests. Mr. and Mrs. Webb are coming along to do the cooking, and their daughter, Victoria, will be there, too. She’s one of their friends from school.
Things start to get interesting pretty quickly when they hear that a man died from a poisonous snake bite not far from where they are camping. The boys are eager to show off their tracking skills by helping the police find the missing snake. But, strangely, no one can figure out where the snake came from because none of the zoos in the area have reported one missing. That’s only the beginning of what becomes a very strange trip for the scouts.
Sam finds a strange bird statue in a public wastebasket and decides to use it as the scouts’ new mascot. Then, someone trashes the campsite, and strange figures are seen running around the woods at night. When Albert makes copies of the bird statue to earn his art badge, the first one is broken, and the second is stolen after some adult shoves Albert into the river near the camp. Some of the guests at Miss Hylyard’s look suspicious, and when Victoria unexpectedly stumbles into an evening’s entertainment there still wrapped in bandages from the scouts’ first aid practice, a guest who was supposedly unable to speak suddenly blurts out, “The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb!” in Arabic (which Miss Hylyard knows from her travels with her father).
Who are these mysterious people? What is the importance of the statue? And, is there really a curse?
The book is currently available online through Internet Archive.
Blossom Culp and the Sleep of Death by Richard Peck, 1986.
The Curse of the Egyptian Mummy by Pat Hutchins, 1983.
Jestress's Forgotten Books and Stories 