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The Literature of the Ancient Egyptians By: Ernest A. Wallis Budge (1857-1934) |
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LITERATURE OF THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS
BY E.A. WALLIS BUDGE, M.A., LITT.D.
Sometime Scholar of Christ's College, Cambridge, and Tyrwhitt
Hebrew Scholar; Keeper of the Department of Egyptian
and Assyrian Antiquities in the British Museum
1914
LONDON
J.M. DENT & SONS LIMITED
Aldine House, Bedford Street, W.C. [Frontispiece:
The Elysian Fields of the Egyptians according to the Papyrus of Ani.
1. Ani adoring the gods of Sekhet Aaru.
2. Ani reaping in the Other World.
3. Ani ploughing in the Other World.
4. The abode of the perfect spirits, and the magical boats.]
PREFACE
This little book is intended to serve as an elementary introduction to
the study of Egyptian Literature. Its object is to present a short
series of specimens of Egyptian compositions, which represent all the
great periods of literary activity in Egypt under the Pharaohs, to all
who are interested in the study of the mental development of ancient
nations. It is not addressed to the Egyptological specialist, to whom,
as a matter of course, its contents are well known, and therefore its
pages are not loaded with elaborate notes and copious references. It
represents, I believe, the first attempt made to place before the public
a summary of the principal contents of Egyptian Literature in a handy
and popular form. The specimens of native Egyptian Literature printed herein are taken
from tombs, papyri, stelæ, and other monuments, and, with few
exceptions, each specimen is complete in itself. Translations of most of
the texts have appeared in learned works written by Egyptologists in
English, French, German, and Italian, but some appear in English for the
first time. In every case I have collated my own translations with the
texts, and, thanks to the accurate editions of texts which have appeared
in recent years, it has been found possible to make many hitherto
difficult passages clear. The translations are as literal as the
difference between the Egyptian and English idioms will permit, but it
has been necessary to insert particles and often to invert the order of
the words in the original works in order to produce a connected meaning
in English. The result of this has been in many cases to break up the
short abrupt sentences in which the Egyptian author delighted, and
which he used frequently with dramatic effect. Extraordinarily concise
phrases have been paraphrased, but the meanings given to several unknown
words often represent guess work. In selecting the texts for translation in this book an attempt has been
made to include compositions that are not only the best of their kind,
but that also illustrate the most important branches of Egyptian
Literature. Among these religious, mythological, and moral works bulk
largely, and in many respects these represent the peculiar bias of the
mind of the ancient Egyptian better than compositions of a purely
historical character. No man was more alive to his own material
interests, but no man has ever valued the things of this world less in
comparison with the salvation of his soul and the preservation of his
physical body. The immediate result of this was a perpetual demand on
his part for information concerning the Other World, and for guidance
during his life in this world. The priests attempted to satisfy his
craving for information by composing the Books of the Dead and the other
funerary works with which we are acquainted, and the popularity of these
works seems to show that they succeeded. From the earliest times the
Egyptians regarded a life of moral excellence upon earth as a necessary
introduction to the life which he hoped to live with the blessed in
heaven... Continue reading book >>
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