| How to Read the Egyptian Book of the Dead (American) American Edition Contributor(s): Kemp, Barry (Author), Critchley, Simon (Editor) |
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ISBN: 0393330796 ISBN-13: 9780393330793 Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company OUR PRICE: $18.95 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: August 2008 Annotation: Using excerpts from the major texts to explain essential topics, the "How to Read" series provides a context and an explanation that will facilitate and enrich your understanding of texts vital to the canon. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Literary Criticism | Middle Eastern - Literary Collections | Ancient, Classical & Medieval |
| Dewey: 299.312 |
| LCCN: 2008019191 |
| Series: How to Read |
| Physical Information: 0.4" H x 5" W x 7.5" (0.20 lbs) 138 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - Middle East |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: 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. |
Contributor Bio(s): Critchley, Simon: - Simon Critchley is a best-selling author and the Hans Jonas Professor at the New School for Social Research. His books include Very Little...Almost Nothing, Infinitely Demanding, The Book of Dead Philosophers, The Faith of the Faithless, Bowie, Memory Theatre and Suicide.Kemp, Barry: - Barry Kemp is Emeritus Professor of Egyptology at Cambridge University and has been conducting research and excavation at Amarna since 1977. He lives in England. |