William Kelly SimpsonBesprekingen

An excellent anthology that may shed more light on Egyptian Coffin Texts (Ritual Spells), Egyptian Religious Studies. Faulkner never fails when it comes to in-depth understanding of Egyptian Civilization. One may commiserate with the "Man who was tired of living", penetrate the woes of one the twelve great sages of Egypt, read superb love poetry to Hathor, read how Horus won the seat at the Council of the Gods (Ennead), and much more! Between myth and magic, one takes one's lifeblood and makes the myth alive and like the eternal Atum-Lotos and Aten - shine again with great splendor! Astarte, the wife of Seth, and the insatiable sea of wonder awaits!

The second book of Egyptian writings I have read. This had some of the same pieces but also some new ones.

My favourites were the love poems, they really humanised the ancient Egyptians and show how much like us they really were. I also enjoyed the report of Wenamon for much the same reasons, the very human dramas of the emissary as he attempted to fulfil her mission.

Honourable mention goes to the Contendings of Horus and Seth for being absolutely bizarre.

Beautiful anthology of ancient Egyptian literature, provided by top translators from the English-speaking region. The texts are arranged by genre (stories, wisdom literature, religious literature, songs and hymns, official epigraphs, autobiographical material), and certainly the most well-known texts are included. All texts are briefly situated, although that could certainly have been more concrete. In that respect, Toby Wilkinson's anthology is much better (although it does not include late Egyptian texts, in demotic script).
They remain ancient texts, which means that words, sentences or passages are often missing, and that the different versions of the ancient Egyptian language do not always allow for an unequivocal or expressive translation. This makes some of these texts rather difficult to read. In any case, I was impressed by the diversity and the depth of some of the lyrics. Another proof that, as the child of modernity, we continue to have a derogatory prejudice against older "primitive" cultures.
For a more in-depth review, see the review in my History account on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5553648055.

An excellent anthology that may shed more light on Egyptian Coffin Texts (Ritual Spells), Egyptian Religious Studies. Faulkner never fails when it comes to in-depth understanding of Egyptian Civilization. One may commiserate with the "Man who was tired of living", penetrate the woes of one the twelve great sages of Egypt, read superb love poetry to Hathor, read how Horus won the seat at the Council of the Gods (Ennead), and much more! Between myth and magic, one takes one's lifeblood and makes the myth alive and like the eternal Atum-Lotos and Aten - shine again with great splendor! Astarte, the wife of Seth, and the insatiable sea of wonder awaits!