The Age of the Pyramids explores the extraordinary rise of Egypt's Old Kingdom, when divine kings, master builders, priests, officials, and skilled workers transformed the Nile Valley into the world's first great monument-building civilization. From Djoser and Imhotep to Sneferu, Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure, this volume follows the creation of the Step Pyramid, the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Sphinx, and the royal necropolis.

It also reveals the people and beliefs behind the stone: the engineers who solved impossible problems, the workers who built for eternity, the priests who sustained royal cults, and the administrators who governed a kingdom of remarkable complexity. Finally, this second volume examines the environmental pressures and political divisions that brought the Old Kingdom to an end while leaving its monuments immortal.