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How To Read The Egyptian Book Of The Dead (How To Read)

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Intent upon letting the reader experience the pleasure and intellectual stimulation in reading classic authors, the How to Read series will facilitate and enrich your understanding of texts vital to the canon. The ancient Egyptians created a world of supernatural forces so vivid, powerful, and inescapable that controlling their destiny within it was their constant preoccupation. In life, supernatural forces manifested themselves through misfortune and illness, and after death were faced for eternity in the Otherworld, along with the divine gods that controlled the universe.The Book of the Dead, the modern name given to a popular compilation of ancient Egyptian spells, empowered the reader to overcome the dangers lurking in the Otherworld and to become one with the gods that governed. Barry Kemp selects a number of spells to explore who and what the Egyptians feared and the kind of assistance that the book offered them, revealing a relationship between the human individual and the divine quite unlike that found in the major faiths of the modern world.

Series: How to Read

Paperback: 144 pages

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; American ed. edition (August 17, 2008)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0393330796

ISBN-13: 978-0393330793

Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.4 x 7.8 inches

Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #1,098,172 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #111 in Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > Regional & Cultural > Middle Eastern #808 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Ancient & Medieval Literature > Ancient & Classical #1537 in Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > Movements & Periods > Medieval

A slim book -- 100 pages or so -- but filled with solidly researched information. Barry Kemp is a practicing Egyptologist (working in Amarna), as well as a Cambridge University professor and scholar. I appreciate the fact that he gives not only his own carefully thought out opinions but mentions other scientists' opinions as well. He is a good writer, though he has a dense style. It has taken me a while to get through this book, but well worth the effort. There is more information in this small book than in many large books on Ancient Egypt that I have read. I have learned so much about The Book of the Dead from reading it, including the fact that it was never called that by the Ancient Egyptians, but called The Going Forth by Day. Kemp cites and examines many of the spells that make up the work, and the information he conveys along the way is illuminating. This book is well worth adding to your library of books on Ancient Egypt.

This book definitely offered insight and assistance in understanding the spells in the Book of the Dead, and the author does a nice job of trying to fit the spells into the everyday life and world-view of the ancient Egyptian. He seemed to me at times, however, to be a little bit condescending toward his subjects and the period, as if the Egyptian worldview and religion were inferior to our own (not in every respect, surely). Overall, though, I found it a short, helpful companion to my beautiful oversized version of the papyrus of Ani.

At roughly 110 pages, Kemp's book is more of a long pamphlet. But for those interested in understanding the mindset behind the Book of the Dead (or Peret em Heru--Coming Forth by Day), this book will be a welcome addition to the bookshelf. Kemp's writing is clear, enjoyable to read, and at times quite insightful.Kemp had a habit of subtly putting down the ancient Egyptians at times, while demonstrating a degree of respect for them at others. The part that grated most was when Kemp kept calling the ancient Egyptians' religion an invented one, as if the ancients were silly savages whose thoughts had no merit. It was really a matter of tone and how he framed it. This was the one flaw that marred an otherwise wonderful addition to my Egyptology collection.

Excellent.

I read only a few pages and it is in my garage shelf now. Perhaps I was expecting too much info, but nonethless, I really did not what to expect

How to Read the Egyptian Book of the Dead (How to Read) The Egyptian Book Of The Dead: The Hieroglyphic Transcript of the Papyrus of ANI, the Translation into English and An Introduction by E. A. Wallis Budge, Late Keeper of the Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities in The British Museum EGYPTIAN LITERATURE Comprising Egyptian Tales Hymns, Litanies Invocations The Book of The dead & Cuneiform Writings The Book of the Dead: Fully Illustrated (The Egyptian Book of the Dead) Egyptian Gods: The Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt (Egyptian Gods, Ancient Egypt) Egyptian Mythology: Discover the Ancient Secrets of Egyptian Mythology (Egypt, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Civilizations, Gods, Pharaohs, Ra, Isis, Set) (Ancient Civilizations and Mythology) EGYPTIAN BOOK OF THE DEAD The Book of Coming Forth By Day The Egyptian Book of the Dead The Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Papyrus of Ani in the British Museum The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Penguin Classics) Egyptian Book of the Dead and the Ancient Mysteries of Amenta Awakening Osiris: A New Translation of the Egyptian Book of the Dead The Egyptian Book of the Dead [Illustrated] The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead (Gift Edition with Scarab) The Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Papyrus of Ani Egyptian Book of the Dead The Illustrated Egyptian Book of the Dead: A New Translation with Commentary The Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Hieroglyphic Transcript of the Papyrus of Ani, the Translation into English and An Introduction by E. A. Wallis Budge THE ANCIENT EGYPTIAN BOOK OF THE DEAD, An Illustrated Edition