A richly illustrated history that sheds light on ancient Egypt across
the millennia
In this richly illustrated book, renowned archaeologist Donald Redford
draws on the latest discoveries--including many of his own--to tell the
story of the ancient Egyptian city of Mendes, home of the mysterious
cult of the "fornicating ram who mounts the beauties." Excavation by
Redford and his colleagues over the past two decades has cast a flood of
light on this strange center of worship and political power located in
the Nile Delta. A sweeping chronological account filled with
photographs, drawings, and informative sidebars, City of the Ram-Man
is the first history of Mendes written for general readers.
Founded in the remote prehistoric past, inhabited continuously for 5,000
years, and abandoned only in the first-century BC, Mendes is a microcosm
of ancient Egyptian history. City of the Ram-Man tells the city's full
story--from its founding, through its development of a great society and
its brief period as the capital of Egypt, up to its final decline.
Central to the story is millennia of worship dedicated to the lascivious
ram-god. The book describes the discoveries of the great temple of the
ram and the "Mansion of the Rams," where the embalmed bodies of the
avatars of the god were buried. It also discusses ancient Greek reports
that these ram-gods occasionally ritually fornicated with women.
Vividly written and informed throughout by Redford's intimate knowledge
of the remains of Mendes, City of the Ram-Man is a unique account of a
long-lost monument of Egyptian history, religion, and culture.
