How well do we really know ancient Egypt? The world of the Egyptians seems strangely familiar to us: exhibitions of ancient art and archaeological discoveries in the desert sands continue to generate interest and amazement, while Egyptian motifs appear in architecture, literature, artworks, advertising, and film. Yet, so much of what we take for granted is based on wildly inaccurate information that has been spreading since the days of classical antiquity and the Renaissance. It is only in the past two hundred years that we have been able to read for ourselves the writings of the ancient Egyptians—so it is hardly surprising that the myths that had been built up in the preceding two thousand years prove so difficult to dispel.