Tales from Ancient Egypt (Paperback)

'Tales from Ancient Egypt' is a retelling of many of the most entertaining and interesting stories (both fact and fiction) from Ancient Egypt. Because these are not slavish translations of the ancient texts, but an interpretation for the modern reader by an author with a sensitive understanding of those texts, and a lively use of modern English, 'Tales' is great fun.

Each 'Tale' is also followed by a short explanation which helps the modern reader to understand any obscure parts of the ancient story.

All in all a thoroughly entertaining read - an excellent introduction to Egyptian literature for the newcomer and a new look at some well-known stories for old Egypt hands like myself.

The book has four main sections, Four Tales of Gods, Seven Tales of Men, Four True Stories and One Hymn. The key area for me was section one that includes the Creation of the World, the Destruction of Mankind, The Tale of Isis and Osiris and the Dispute of Horus and Seth. The author provides a no-nonsense commentary on the tales and helps you to understand the context of the story, the time period and the underlying messages.

Section two includes five magical Tales, The Shipwrecked Sailor, The Talkative Peasant, The Story of Sinuhe, The Doomed Prince, The Two Brothers and The Tales of Truth and Falsehood.

Section three has four true stories including the Adventures of Harkhuf, The Siege of Megiddo, The Battle of Kadesh and The Voyage of Wenamen. Several readers will be familiar with the Battle of Kadesh and Siege of Megiddo because they lodge in the mind as great military moments, however the other two stories are less familiar but intriguing.

The last tale, in fact a Hymn is the Great Hymn to the Aten. My only suggested improvement to this book is that I would have liked more commentary on the ‘Great Hymn to the Aten’. The Amarna period and just about everything associated with it is popular with several budding Egyptologists and I would put the ‘Great Hymn to the Aten’ as an aspect worthy of a touch more discussion.

I would recommend this book to anyone enthusiastic on ancient Egypt on the basis of section one alone, the creation of the world and associated myths.

I came across 'Tales from Ancient Egypt' quite by accident and am thrilled I did. I had not realised the sheer range of fictional narrative created by the ancient egyptians, nor the ways in which they wrote about themselves in factual (or semi-factual!) terms. From now on I shall think of them as not just builders of pyramids but engaging and interesting writers in their own right.

I also found Joyce Tyldsley's writing style witty and engaging - she appears to me to be a superb interpreter of these ancient texts. Bravo!

This was an absorbing and entertaining read for me personally, and a book I plan to use with my adult education classes next year.