Encyclopedias
It's usually a good idea to do some general background reading as you begin research on a new project. Encyclopedia articles are often a great place to start. In the box on the right I've listed a few encyclopedias--both print and online--which can give you some background information in topics related to Egypt and the ancient Near East.
In addition to the information in encyclopedia articles themselves, don't miss the brief bibliographies that are usually at the ends of the articles. When you have specific sources listed for you, it's usually a pretty simple matter to look in ALICE to see if we have the books or journals or other sources mentioned there.
Civilizations of the Ancient Near East by Call Number: Fine Arts DS57 .C55 1995Publication Date: 1995Print. Four-volume set of books done thematically: Vol. 1, pt. 1. Ancient Near East in Western thought. pt. 2. The Environment. pt. 3. Population. pt. 4. Social institutions -- v. 2. pt. 5. History and culture -- v. 3. pt. 6. Economy and trade. pt. 7. Technology and artistic production. pt. 8. Religion and science -- v. 4. pt. 9 Language and literature. pt. 10. Visual and performing arts. pt. 11. Retrospective essays.
Dictionary of the Ancient Near East by Call Number: Ref. DS56 .D5 2000Publication Date: 2000"The only single-volume dictionary to embrace the whole of the ancient Near East, this major reference work covers Anatolia, Mesopotamia, the Levant, and the Arabian peninsula from the earliest times, through the Old Testament period, until the fall of Babylon to the Persians in 539 B.C. From "Achaemenids" to "Ziwiye," "administration" to "ziggurat," in 500 concise, cross-referenced, and comprehensively indexed entries, the Dictionary of the Ancient Near East describes and explains the major ideas, institutions, places, peoples, and personalities that shaped the earliest development of Western civilization." (Publisher's summary)
The Encyclopedia of Ancient Egyptian Architecture by Call Number: Fine Arts NA215 .A7413 2003xPublication Date: 2003Print. Includes more than 300 illustrations and 600 alphabetically arranged entries spanning every type of building and every aspect of construction and design. In the Fine Arts Library.
- Oxford art onlineProvides access to Grove Art Online, The Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, The Oxford Companion to Western Art, and The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms. Includes image partnerships with ARTstor, the British Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Art Images for College Teaching, Art Resource, Artists Rights Society and numerous international art galleries and artists
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt by Call Number: Online.Publication Date: 2001Online. Contains more than 600 articles on all aspects of Egyptology, including history, archaeology, economics, science, and literary and religious studies. Also available in print.
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the near East by Call Number: Fine Arts DS56 .O9 1996Publication Date: 1996Print. Includes 1,125 alphabetically arranged entries on sites, languages, material culture, archaeological methods, organizations and institutions, and major excavators and scholars of the field. Areas covered include: civilizations of Syria-Palestine, Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Iran, Arabia, Cyprus, Egypt, and the coastal regions of North and East Africa.
