How to Read the Egyptian Book of the Dead (American)

by Barry J. Kemp and Barry J. Kemp

Book Overview

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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393330796
• ISBN13: 9780393330793
• Release Date: August 2008
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 138 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.0" x 7.5"

Customer Reviews

Short, dense and terrific

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.