Djekhy & Son, two businessmen living 2500 years ago in the densely populated neighborhoods built around the great temple of Amun at Karnak, worked as funerary service providers in the necropolis on the western bank of the Nile. They were also successful agricultural entrepreneurs, cultivating flax and grain. In 1885, the German Egyptologist August Eisenlohr acquired a unique collection of papyri that turned out to be Djekhy's archive of mainly legal documents. Using this rich trove of evidence, augmented by many other sources, the author has painted a vivid picture of life in ancient Egypt between 570 and 534
Industry Reviews
"Step aside Tutankhamun and Akhenaten. Meet the real Egyptians. From the banks of the Nile in the middle of the 6th century BCE come Djekhy and his family, a group of funerary workers who prepared the dead for burial and looked after the mortuary cult. Informative and often hilarious, this book provides an insight into the lives of the Egyptians that cannot easily be found on temple walls or in museum collections."-Cary J. Martin, Institute of Archaeology, University College London
"This book is a superb example of how mundane and boring papyrus documents such as leases, letters and tax receipts can be used to write compelling, enticing, and recognizable stories about actual people who lived long ago."-Arthur Verhoogt, Department of Classical Studies, University of Michigan
"An entertaining and informative story woven around actual people who lived in ancient Egypt"-Janet Johnson, the leading demotist at the Oriental Institute in Chicago
"Donker van Heel's book offers a clear demonstration of the fact that history depends on a thorough familiarity with the primary sources and isn't the enemy of humor."-Damien Agut Labordère, Archéologies et Sciences de l'Antiquité, CNRS
"Ancient Egyptian mummies, tombs and plots of land in their economic and juridical context, presented here in a none too academic way for the first time. By following the documents of a family of undertakers in the 6th century BCE, we get access to real life along the Nile. Well-written and highly recommendable!"-Hans-Werner Fischer Elfert, Ägyptologisches Institut, University of Leipzig
"Donker van Heel succeeds admirably in combining cutting-edge scholarship and lively style, making some of the most difficult ancient Egyptian papyri and ostraca accessible to the general public. Drawing on documents from one of the most neglected periods of Egyptian history, the so-called Late or Saite Period, he vividly recreates the everyday life of ordinary Egyptians. A must read for everyone interested in Late-Period Egypt."-Csaba La'da, Classical and Archaeological Studies, University of Kent
"A vivid and wonderful insight, not only on everyday life in Late Pharaonic Egypt, but also on the hard work of an expert in the most difficult Egyptian scripts, full of humoristic and candid short stories about modern and ancient oddities."-Michel Chauveau, Sciences Historiques et Philologiques, EPHE
"From a few blobs of ink on papyrus, the author manages to conjure up a vision of everyday life in Ancient Egypt."-Maarten Raven, Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden
"Van Heel has done a superb job of not only making a difficult subject accessible to the general reader, but also giving him or her a sustained look into a realm of ancient Egyptian life rarely afforded the non-specialist. Djekhy & Son is highly recommended reading!"--KMT
