Egypt: Stones of Light

Adorning the temples, palaces, and monuments of the Nile River Valley, their inscrutable gazes look out across the millennia, bearing witness to the rise and fall of long-lost dynasties-just as they have witnessed the endless rise and fall of the sun. Timeless treasures of light and shadow, they are the sculpted stones of ancient Egypt. In this gorgeous book of images, photographer Hervé Champollion portrays these ancient stones in natural light, forming a breathtaking pictorial history of one of the world's most fascinating ancient civilizations.

Virtually all that is known of pharaonic times-from military campaigns to religious ceremonies to the everyday life of civilians-comes from these stones, which are captured by Champollion's lens in a range of settings, from the glowing red of sunrise, to the hard white light of midday, to the golden rays of sunset. Informative captions by noted scholar Diane Sarofim Harlé enhance the images and help us to appreciate the grandeur of these "stones of light," which through the ages have beckoned visitors to come face-to-face with the divine.