This strange, vintage deck has finally entered my collection. I have always been attracted to it, simply because of the title. I love all things Egyptian. Granted this deck was copyrighted in 1978. It belongs in the serious collectors library. I wanted to believe this was the deck was copies of the original papyrus discovered in some forgotten temple of Egypt. It is not. This theory has been disproved since the discovery of the Rosetta Stone. Yet, Papus and others keep this train of thought alive. Indeed, the romantic view still favors an Egyptian connection. After much study and research on my behalf, I cannot accept the evidence that these images came from Egypt. This pack is part of the reason.
Lets begin to look at the images. The major arcana is stiffly drawn with similar poses found in the classic Marseilles deck. The titles are all renamed and embellished with mysterious names that could never be translated to the Egyptian. Honestly, Saint Germain was a contemporary of "Etteilla" who was basically a fool. These earlier "Occultist" did one thing-they brought many elements of the "Western Tradition" to the tarot. The Hebrew alphabet, astrology, and other cross-cultural elements that that may be seen as coincidence.
This pack presents theory and not hard evidence that a series of papyrus was recovered from the Library of Alexandria. Indeed, the ancient Egyptians daily life included divination in one form or another. Something similar to Tarot cards may have been used. This deck is one of the best models you may find of this "tarot". Egypt has yet to give up all of its secrets. It may never. We cannot speculate, however...
