The art of ancient Egypt that has been handed down to us bears no names of its creators, and yet we value the creations of these unknown masters no less than the works of later centuries, such as statues by Michelangelo or the paintings by Leonardo da Vinci. This book introduces some of the most important masterpieces, ranging from the Old Kingdom during the Third millennium BC to the Roman Period.

The works encompass sculptures, reliefs, sarcophagi, murals, masks, and decorative items, most of them now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, but some occupying places of honor as part of the World Cultural Heritage in museums such as the Louvre in Paris, the British Museum in London, the Egyptian Museum in Berlin, and the Metropolitan Museum in New York.

Featured works include:

Seated statue of King Djoser

Wood relief of Hesire on a dining table

Statue of a scribe made of various materials

Funerary relief of Aschait

Sphinx of Sesostris III

Robed statue of Cherihotep

Reliefs from the Temple at Carnac

Sarcophagus of Queen Hatshepsut

Murals from Thebes

Seated figure of the goddess Sachmet

Statue of Queen Teje

Head of Akhenaten (Amenophis IV)

Queen Nefertiti

Golden mask of Tutankhamun

Ramses II from Abu Simbel

Horus falcon made of granite

Stone relief from the temple ambulatory at Edfu

About the series

Born back in 1985, the Basic Art Series has evolved into the best-selling art book collection ever published. Each book in TASCHEN's Basic Art History series features:

approximately 100 color illustrations with explanatory captions

a detailed, illustrated introduction

a selection of the most important works of the epoch, each presented on a two-page spread with a full-page image and accompanying interpretation, as well as a portrait and brief biography of the artist