Alongside the mummies and the great treasure-filled burial chambers of the Pyramids are the many gods, heroes, monsters and legends that defined their universe. Atum, the first being -- who then begat Nut, the sky goddess and Geb, the god of the land -- and their union in turn producing Osiris, Seth, Isis and Nephthys.

Explore Ancient Egypt's creation myths, including the Book of the Dead, and the evolution of pictograms and hieroglyphs, which documented many aspects of Egyptian life. Read how, across the long duration of the Ancient Egyptian age, animals such as cats, falcons, baboons and scarab beetles became sacred, and how species like the jackal, lion and the Nile crocodile became intertwined with the gods.

Death and the afterlife occupied a central place in the Ancient Egyptian belief system, and this well-illustrated book explores the extraordinary lengths and care given to funerary practices, including the Weighing of the Heart and the elaborate rituals to ensure the successful passage of the deceased pharaohs into the afterlife -- to live in Paradise with Osiris.

Fully illustrated with photographs of shrines and statuary, this book is the definitive guide to the dark, complex and extraordinary mythology of Ancient Egypt.