John L. Foster (1) (1930–2011)

The Shipwrecked Sailor: A Tale from Ancient Egypt by John L. Foster is an excellent line-by-line translation of the original Shipwrecked Sailor text, kept very literal and as close to the original meaning as possible without stilting the English grammar of the translation beyond all comprehension. There are of course some potential points of contention in the translation (it differs slightly from the version in Hoch's Middle Egyptian Grammar, for example), but these exist in virtually any text translated from a dead language (or any living one for that matter!).

This version helpfully includes the original text alongside the translation and an explanation of the text-->transliteration-->translation process, as well as a brief primer on how hieroglyphic (and hieratic) text is read, and some historical information regarding both the text and the illustrations (as many of them are inspired by actual images and artwork from Ancient Egypt). In spite of the bright illustrations, which might suggest that children are the primary intended audience for this book, it is actually quite a useful reference source for scholars and students of Middle Egyptian. Younger children might even find it a bit challenging (and may prefer Tamara Bower's version of the story), though children who are a little older might appreciate the extra layers of information, especially if they are really interested in Ancient Egyptian culture.

This is a wonderful book, and I highly recommend it.… (meer)