User Guide

A
s we approach the new millennium, some-
how the spectacular though enigmatic civi-
lization of ancient Egypt seems to have taken
on a new significance for the modern world. Always
shrouded by a certain mystique and romanticism, this
remarkable culture now seems to reach out at us,
evoking familiar but still tantalizing questions about
our place in the universe, where we’ve come from and
where we’re going. Why does this long dead civiliza-
tion have such an effect on us?
Could it be simply that the tremendous antiquity of
this culture almost defies belief? Indeed, this civiliza-
tion is so old that the great pyramids were ancient his-
tory by the time the Roman Empire arrived on the
scene. Maybe it’s just that there’s a certain kind of
magic that we, as human beings, find ourselves believ-
ing in, precisely because so much remains unknown
about this amazing culture, whose great and wondrous
achievements we still marvel at to this day. Though
Egypt has certainly endured the test of time, the truth
is that on the eve of this new millennium, as we pon-
der such enticing questions as “is there life on other
planets?”, there is still quite a lot about the history of
our own world we don’t know, and may never know.
What we do know about ancient Egypt is fascinating,
yet the topic conjures up very different images to just
about anyone you ask. To some people, the study of
ancient Egypt only means dusty old textbooks and
stuffy museums. To others it’s the stuff of tabloid
headlines, where alien encounters and the resurrection
of the dead are an integral part of the picture. Well,
with
Pharaoh we hope we’ve changed that! In this
game, you won’t be stuck staring at photographs of
Designer’s Notes