Popular stories of ancient Egypt

G. Maspero, 1846-1916

Book - 2002

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Subjects
Published
Santa Barbara, Calif. : ABC-CLIO c2002.
Language
English
Main Author
G. Maspero, 1846-1916 (-)
Other Authors
Hasan M. El-Shamy, 1938- (-)
Physical Description
cliv, 275 p. ; 27 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
ISBN
9781576076392
  • Introduction to This Edition and Classification by Tale-Type and Motif
  • Preface to English Edition
  • Introduction
  • Complete Stories
  • 1. The Story of the Two Brothers
  • 2. The King Khufui and the Magicians
  • 3. The Lamentations of the Fellah
  • 4. The Memoirs of Sinuhit
  • 5. The Shipwrecked Sailor
  • 6. How Thutiyi Took the City of Joppa
  • The Cycle of Satni-Khamois
  • 7. I. The Adventure of Satni-Khamois with the Mummies
  • 8. II. The Veritable History of Satni-Khamois and His Son Senosiris
  • 9. III. How Satni-Khamois Triumphed over the Assyrians
  • The Cycle of Ramses II
  • 10. I. The Daughter of the Prince of Bakhtan and the Possessing Spirit
  • 11. II. The Exploits of Sesostris
  • 12. III. The Exploits of Osimandyas
  • 13. The Doomed Prince
  • 14. The Story of Rhampsinitus
  • 15. The Voyage of Unamunu to the Coasts of Syria
  • The Cycle of Petubastis
  • 16. I. The High Emprise for the Cuirass
  • 17. II. The High Emprise for the Throne of Amon
  • Fragments
  • Introductory Note
  • 18. Fragment of a Fantastic Story, Anterior to the Eighteenth Dynasty
  • 19. The Quarrel of Apopi and Saqnunriya
  • 20. Fragments of a Ghost Story
  • 21. Story of a Mariner
  • 22. The Adventure of the Sculptor Petesis and King Nectonabo
  • 23. Fragments of the Theban-Coptic Version of the Romance of Alexander
  • 24. Epigraph: On Those Who Caused Alexander to Drink the Death Potion
  • Index of Proper Names
  • Index of General Subjects
  • About the Volume Editor
Review by Choice Review

Part of the "ABC-CLIO Classic Folk and Fairy Tales" series, this volume is a republication of an 1882 anthology of ancient Egyptian narratives translated into French by renowned Egyptologist Gaston Maspero. His meticulously documented work was translated from French into English in 1915. The text is unchanged except for the added introduction by El-Shamy (Indiana Univ.) discussing Maspero's methodology, his importance, and the significance of this collection. Maspero wrote from the perspective of Egyptologist and literary scholar; El-Shamy adds the perspective of folklorist, classifying narratives by tale type and identifying motifs. Although Maspero's footnotes on customs and language are very helpful, the book's age poses problems. The archaic style of the translations is distracting: "Behold thou, since thine ass eats my wheat, I shall put him to labour...." The Egyptian names appear in unfamiliar forms with no list of modern equivalencies: Hatshopsuitu for Hatshepsut, Tafnit for Tefnut. Most serious: a layperson cannot know what information or translation has been rendered invalid by recent scholarship. Despite the considerable difficulties, libraries supporting extensive programs in this area of study will want to acquire this volume because of its explanatory footnotes, its historical significance, and El-Shamy's folkloristic approach to the tales. Upper-division undergraduates and above. S. M. Most Eastern Michigan University

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review

Collecting popular stories from ancient Egypt is unlike collecting folktales from more modern societies. With the literary tales involved here, there are the basic problems of translating from hieroglyphics and of dealing with damaged and fragmentary manuscripts. Beyond that, however, are deeper issues of cultural differences and assumptions from storytellers about what audiences will understand. These stories from Gaston Maspero's classic volume, originally published in 1882, are accompanied by extensive footnotes that detail social expectations and patterns of behavior in ancient Egyptian society, making the texts comprehensible to modern readers. Between Maspero and edition editor Hasan El-Shamy (folklore, Indiana Univ.), introductions make up fully a third of the current volume, but included are important discussions of backgrounds, research methodologies, tale types, and motifs. Each story receives its own brief introduction as well, including provenance, dating of manuscripts, thematic and content discussions, and comparison with other tales. Part of the ABC-CLIO "Classic Folk & Fairy Tales" series, whose senior editor is noted folklore scholar Jack Zipes, Popular Stories of Ancient Egypt is recommended for all libraries.-Katherine K. Koenig, Ellis Sch., Pittsburgh (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.