Discovering Ancient Egypt takes a refreshingly new approach to the history of ancient Egypt. It tells the dual story of the travellers and archaeologists whose discoveries have led to our understanding of ancient Egypt alongside an outline history of the ancient Egyptian civilization.

Rosalie David begins her study with a look at the early Classical travellers and historians such as Herodotus and Diadorus Siculus, writers from an ancient culture writing about what was, even to them, in the distant past. In the 18th and 19th centuries explorers (including Napoleon) opened Egypt up to the archaeologists whose discoveries have laid the foundations of an understanding of the civilization of Egypt.

At the center of Discovering Ancient Egypt is a survey of every important tomb, temple, palace or domestic site which has been excavated and studied. Packed with unusual illustrations, this section tells of the discovery of each site, its excavation and, in the case of sites such as Abu Simbel and Philae, a look at modern rebuilding and restoration projects.

Rounding off the book is an outline history of Egypt from pre-dynastic times to the Graeco-Roman period which demonstrates how the evidence derived from the excavations detailed in the earlier pages of the book has helped Egyptologists to reconstruct the main developments of the civilization. Discovering Ancient Egypt is illustrated in color and black and white with specially commissioned photographs and rarely seen drawings from early studies of ancient Egypt.